Everton match up vs Arsenal is for the relegation scrap. It has hit a brutal snag ahead of their crunch in Premier League clash on Saturday. David Moyes’ Toffees, already scraping by in 16th, now face a decimated squad at the newly sponsored Hill Dickinson Stadium in game of Everton vs Arsenal. Fresh injury blows mean seven first-teamers are unlikely to feature. This piles pressure on a threadbare defense and attack as they host Mikel Arteta’s rampant Gunners.
Defensive Devastation
The backline bears the fight. Captain Seamus Coleman sidelined by a recurring hamstring tweak that Moyes confirmed will sideline him for weeks. Star center-back Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton’s £70m man, remains out with his own hamstring woe. While James Tarkowski nurses a knock from training. Versatile Merlin Rohl, the German midfielder doubling as emergency cover, is ruled out with a stubborn groin strain. This leaves Moyes scrambling for options against Arsenal’s lethal forwards like Bukayo Saka.
Midfield and Attack Absences
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s early substitution against Chelsea—after just 15 minutes clutching his hamstring—has sparked major doubts. Jack Grealish, the summer coup from Manchester City, limped off with a fitness niggle in the same game. His status touch-and-go amid whispers of fatigue. Up top, Iliman Ndiaye’s absence is confirmed. The Senegalese ace rushed off for AFCON duties, depriving Everton of his electric pace.
Seven @Everton players could miss @Arsenal game with five of them key starters.
Iliman Ndiaye – AFCON-duty
Idrissa Gana Gueye – AFCON-duty
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – hamstring-injury
Jack Grealish – hamstring-discomfort
Jarrad Branthwaite – long-term-fitness
Merlin Rohl –… pic.twitter.com/UWsXxBuUQn
— Dennis Mayega (@dennis_mayega) December 16, 2025
Moyes’ Desperate Shuffle
These half-dozen ills is in completion by a minor calf problem of Dwight McNeil. It give Moyes a team of men as skinny as the well-known fog of Goodison. We have bodies, but they have quality strained, the Scot acknowledged after Chelsea. As Arsenal looks at a statement victory to secure the first place, youth and grit are the keys to survival at Everton in Premier League. A defeat would put the chasm between safety further and the entire Hill Dickinson would become an oven of despair. Fans are straining themselves on a backs-to-the-wall fight, yet magic of Moyes might fail in his absence of the key-men.
As featured on GoonerNews.com