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Arsenal will travel to Everton on Tuesday night and they will face a Ronald Koeman team that is not in good form.
Traditionally an away trip to Everton is a tough game, but Arsenal would surely be very disappointed should they not pick up another 3 points on Tuesday as they chase the title.
Here’s the eleven I expect Arsenal to field and I think that should Wenger opt to do so, the Gunners can take all three points from the game.
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Big Pete still can’t save penalties BUT, he is a good goalkeeper, a very good one actually and his selection between the sticks is all but certain. The pressure from Ospina for his place will hopefully see Cech play at his best.
Defence: Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Paulista, Laurent Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs
Bellerin is back fit again and that is great news, however Mustafi’s injury prevents Arsenal from being full strength at the back. Gabriel is likely to move into the centre of defence, just as he did against Stoke. The Brazilian is a little erratic defensively at times and his defensive positioning does worry me a little. But his stable performances at right back has seen him earn a chance to impress in Mustafi’s absence. He needs to play well with Holding and soon Mustafi and Mertesacker will return so Gabriel needs to impress if he wishes to feature regularly in the future.
Defensive Midfield: Granit Xhaka, Francis Coquelin
Both players are reasonably fresh with Coquelin never going away on international duty and Xhaka only used sparingly in the season’s opening stages. This means they are more than capable of playing against Everton and again against Manchester City. Keeping these two in the middle will also allow for a build in consistency as the team recover from the long-term loss of Santi Cazorla.
Attacking Midfield: Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
I see no real need to change the attacking set up. It was a really good performance from Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott at the weekend, with the former getting a great assist and the latter another goal, his 10th of the season. Ozil also scored and is showing that he is a much bigger goal threat this season. Alex Iwobi will be pushing to win back his first-team place after scoring in consecutive games. He also scored in his last visit to Goodison Park so Wenger will surely be tempted to select him, but Oxlade-Chamberlain deserves to retain his place too. The competition for places is good and it will be good to have either of them as an effective substitute.
Striker: Alexis Sanchez
He was rested for the final stages of the home game against Stoke and that is because Wenger knows that Arsenal need a fit and firing Alexis in order to have a real chance of winning the Premier League. He is the star man for Arsenal and with Chelsea setting the pace so highly, Alexis needs to continue his quality performances to keep the team at the top.
