At one point last night, I was thinking it was just about typical of Arsenal´s luck that Everton would get a shot in the arm of confidence and form and have the growing pressure on their struggling players and under fire manager relieved just in time to face the Gunners on Sunday.
That was after they had leveled the score in their Europa League home tie with French club Lyon. They had played poorly and were rightly trailing but after Ashley Williams powered in a headed equaliser from a second half corner just minutes after sparking a melee that should have seen him sent off, the Toffees tails were up and they looked certain to go on and claim a crucial win.
Then they missed a great chance and Lyon punished them with a winner of their own and the mood in Goodison was a like a deflated balloon. It may even be that there fightback and ray of hope will hurt even more than just another poor game.
Whatever, the fact is that they are now in an even worse place mentally and will not be looking forward to the visit of Arsenal on Sunday, especially as we won our own European game and have nearly qualified already despite playing a second string side against Red Star Belgrade.
The question is, will Arsenal be ruthless and inflict yet more pain on Everton this Sunday?
Bob.