We do not know if there is a problem with the Arsenal centre back Per Mertesacker as yet, but the German has not made it into the starting line up or even the subs bench for the visit of Everton today. And that is not the only change to the Gunners.
We knew that Aaron Ramsey was out and suspected that it would be young Oxlade-Chamberlain that would replace him on the right of the Arsenal attack, but we did not expect Arsene Wenger to switch his centre forward options as well. Perhaps it is the added pace of the Ox and with Alexis Sanchez on the other side that has convinced the boss to start with Giroud in the centre, or perhaps it is a reward for the way he has come back from that dip in form and scored vital goals from the bench.
Cech
Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal
Coquelin, Cazorla
Chamberlain, Ozil, Alexis
Giroud
subs: Macey, Debuchy, Gibbs, Chambers, Flamini, Campbell, Walcott
I would expect the Gunners to put a lot of pressure on Everton´s young left back Galloway and with the brilliant Bellerin backing up the dynamic Chamberlain it should be a tough game for the lad, but with Deulofeu, Lukaku and Barkley, the visitors carry plenty of threat themselves and this could be another game which calls for patience and full focus all the way through.
I still think Arsenal should win the game and an early goal could well see us win it by a decent margin.