Arsenal host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday evening, looking to protect a seven-point lead at the top, but David Moyes’ side arrives at the Emirates on the back of strong away form and consecutive league wins.
Arsenal return to Premier League action on Saturday, March 14 when Everton visit the Emirates Stadium for a 5:30pm kick-off. Arteta’s side head into the weekend top of the table on 67 points, seven clear of Manchester City, although City still have a game in hand.
Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday in the Champions League, so the challenge now is to switch competition quickly and avoid any drop in league focus against an opponent who has become far more resilient under Moyes.
Team news and the post-Leverkusen picture
The main Arsenal question remains Martin Odegaard. Arteta confirmed before the Leverkusen game that the captain was out. It has been a stop-start season for the Norwegian, whose campaign has been repeatedly interrupted by injury, limiting him to just 13 Premier League starts. Even so, he is still joint-seventh in the division for assists, which underlines how much creativity Arsenal lose when he is absent.
The better news was that Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi were all available again, and Saliba did return in Germany as Arsenal left the BayArena with the tie level. That should leave Arteta with a stronger base for Everton, even if there may still be some management around minutes after a demanding midweek trip.
There is also a selection call in attack. Kai Havertz came off the bench to score the late penalty at Leverkusen, while Noni Madueke’s introduction helped change the game after Bukayo Saka didn't find his way into the match. With the second leg against Leverkusen still to come next week,
Arteta has to decide how much he rotates and how much he trusts the players who shifted the momentum in Germany.
Why Everton are not a routine home fixture
This is the kind of game that looks manageable on paper but carries enough warning signs. Everton arrive after a 3-2 win at Newcastle and a 2-0 home victory over Burnley, and they are unbeaten in six away league matches. The Toffees are chasing a fifth win in six away trips, which underlines how much more stable they have become on the road under Moyes. Arsenal won the reverse fixture 1-0 in December through a Viktor Gyokeres penalty, but that was a tight game and there is little reason to expect an easy win at home.
Since David Moyes returned to Everton as manager in 2025, the Toffees have been the second best team in the league, away from home, second only to Arsenal. Moyes said this week that Everton will not “take their foot off the pedal” in the final stretch of the season, which is the sort of line Arsenal should take seriously.
Key stats and what the game could hinge on
Arsenal's platform remains strong even if the football hasn't always been pretty. The win at Brighton, Bukayo Saka's goal the only difference, moved Arteta's side seven points clear and extended their unbeaten run to eight, though few would call it a performance to savour. Declan Rice captured the mood afterwards. "You can win ugly, you can win playing well," he said, and that has felt like the defining theme of recent weeks, Arsenal grinding through tight, imperfect matches rather than sweeping opponents aside.
Patience will likely matter again against Everton. Moyes' side have shown on their travels that they can sit deep, protect their shape and pull teams into a slower, more physical game. Arsenal's challenge is to make more of their possession than they did in spells during the draw in Leverkusen, turning control into something more decisive. Do that, and they have a chance to tighten their grip on the title race. Fail to, and this has every look of another afternoon that will need to be won the hard way.