EVERTON 2-1 ARSENAL
- Goals: Richarlison (£7.4m), Demarai Gray (£5.5m) | Martin Odegaard (£5.4m)
- Assists: Gray, Andre Gomes (£4.9m) | Kieran Tierney (£4.7m)
- Bonus: Richarlison x3, Tierney x3, Odegaard x1
THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR RICHARLISON AS GRAY HAULS
Demarai Gray’s (£5.5m) late winner at Goodison Park on Monday night ended a run of eight Premier League matches without a win for Everton. They had to do it the hard way, with Richarlison (£7.4m) twice seeing goals ruled out by VAR, but this was a much-improved display by Rafa Benitez’s side, with victory lifting them up to 12th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone.
As for Gray, he has been a real talisman for Everton this season, and bagged a nine-point haul in Gameweek 15 courtesy of a goal and assist. As a result, he has now scored more league goals than any other Toffee in 2021/22, with five, while his three assists is only beaten by Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.4m).
There could be value in the winger from Gameweek 18, too, when his side embark on a kind run of fixtures right through until Gameweek 26:
However, we should point out that all three of Gray’s efforts tonight arrived outside of the box, while he also failed to register a single touch inside Arsenal’s penalty area.
Demarai Gray’s xG shot map v Arsenal in Gameweek 15
“I was asking him because he had a knock and we didn’t know if he could carry on. But he said ‘yeah, yeah I can carry on” – Rafael Benitez on Demarai Gray
Elsewhere, Lucas Digne (£5.1m) was a surprise omission from the matchday squad despite playing 90 minutes against Liverpool last week, with Benitez opting to swerve the question when probed on his absence after the game:
“The main priority for me is the team. We have to concentrate on that. Ben Godfrey did really well. He is a good player and we must get the best from him.”
Meanwhile, Yerry Mina’s (£4.9m) comeback lasted just 30 minutes, as he went off injured and headed straight down the tunnel, with Mason Holgate (£4.2m) replacing him in Everton’s back four.
“He has had a bad time with injury and he is coming back after one month. Today was in the hamstring. He is really down now but hopefully he can recover quickly. We will have to assess him.” – Rafael Benitez on Yerry Mina’s injury
AUBAMEYANG BENCHED / SMITH ROWE INJURY LATEST
Following tonight’s 2-1 defeat, it’s now back-to-back losses for Arsenal, with just one clean sheet in their last four. However, with good fixtures to come in December – Southampton (h), West Ham United (h), Leeds United (a), Norwich City (a) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) – owners of their backline assets shouldn’t be too concerned, especially given that only Liverpool have kept more clean sheets than Mikel Arteta’s side since Aaron Ramsdale (£5.0m) made his debut in Gameweek 4.
Further forward, they were poor in an attacking sense tonight, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£9.7m) dropped to the bench and also guilty of spurning a good opportunity when he did finally come on. As a result, the Gabon international has now failed to score in each of his last six Premier League appearances, with big misses against Newcastle United and Watford, plus his withdrawal at Old Trafford when his side needed an equaliser, real low points.
Elsewhere, Emile Smith Rowe (£6.1m) wasn’t fit enough to make the squad, after suffering a knock during the second-half of Thursday’s defeat at Manchester United, which Mikel Arteta touched on in his post-match interview:
“He was with pain and could not train or travel. We will see how he is.”
… while Gabriel Martinelli (£5.2m) also picked up an injury:
“I don’t know. We will have to assess him. He felt something in his hamstring so I am not very positive about it.”
Kieran Tierney (£4.7m) made his first start since Gameweek 8, as he replaced Nuno Tavares (£4.3m) at left-back, and duly provided his first assist of the season, plus a clean sheet too, having been withdrawn just after the hour mark.
“We made some changes today, the same with Kieran (Tierney), you have to freshen up, there’s a lot of games coming up and we want everyone fit and available. Auba’s more of a threat in behind, more down the left, Laca’s more of a link player. They’re different.” – Mikel Arteta
Everton XI: Pickford, Coleman, Mina (Holgate 31), Keane, Godfrey, Allan, Doucoure, Gordon (Iwobi 87), Gray, Townsend (Gomes 66), Richarlison
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney (Tavares 65), Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli (Nketiah 71), Lacazette (Aubameyang 85)
