Mark Lawrenson admits Arsenal isn’t at their best level yet, but he does expect them to beat Everton.
The Gunners face the Toffees on Monday night hoping to get back to winning ways after losing 3-2 to Manchester United last Thursday.
They showed great fight in that fixture and will feel unlucky to have lost the game.
However, Everton has been very poor in recent matches and that means Mikel Arteta’s team has a great opportunity to return to form against Rafa Benitez’s side.
Former Liverpool man, Lawro, predicts on the BBC: “Everton are not getting any better.
“We saw early on against Liverpool on Wednesday that the Toffees really can be got at defensively, and after going 2-0 down inside the first 20 minutes there was no way back from there.
“I’m still not convinced by Arsenal on their travels, and the last time they came to Merseyside, a couple of weeks ago, they shipped four goals.
“There is something still missing about the Gunners but the big difference is they are facing Everton this time, not Liverpool.
“Lawro’s prediction: 1-2”
Just Arsenal Opinion
After the game against United, this fixture is the perfect one for Arsenal as they bid to get back to winning ways.
The current Everton team is short on confidence and is missing several key players through injury.
Benitez is one of the finest managers in England, but we could force Everton to sack him by winning this fixture.
A win pushes us another step closer to the top four and the players will have themselves to blame if they cannot achieve that.
Everton will be really amped up for this game.
Their whole season is going down the gurgler and they just got roasted by rivals Liverpool.
Benitez and the fans will demand a reaction.
Arsenal are a better side but it’s at Goddison.
I will take a draw.
for those of us with the power of sight and a sound understanding of the sport, we know exactly what we’re missing
Please tell us lesser mortals, what exactly is that?
how do you know I wasn’t referring to you too?
😂
I know you were referring to the likes of me, that’s why I’m asking you to explain. Please enlighten me oh blessed one…..
your responses say infinitely more about yourself than myself, as either you’ve openly acknowledged that you’re functionally incapable of comprehending my rather obvious inference or you’re simply embarking on a totally juvenile troll job…so maybe you were right all along(lol)
(btw this is when you should consider just leaving well enough alone, yet wrongly choose otherwise and offer up another one of your totally ineffectual quips…good luck with that smart guy)
No, my point Is that you’re inferring that you seem to know exactly what is wrong with this side, and if someone doesn’t agree then they must be blind and/or not understand football, yet don’t want to directly say it. I’m genuinely curious as to what you think that is?
a manager with the tactical nous and requisite onions to get the best out of this particular squad…simple and believable
and the
Have to disagree. I don’t think there’s much more that could be got out of this particular squad by any manager baring the elite who aren’t available at the moment.
If we dont win this our season is really starting to splutter and pop.
Yep agree there, losing to Chelsea, city and utd etc, I can understand, but I expect Arsenal to beat Everton on current form all day long, no excuses…
Precisely!!!!!
Apart from the replacement of our Manager which a group have been advocating for some time ,with some justification I may add, the team is lacking in a number of areas.If I were asked to prioritise our needs, a physically powerful, quality DM would top my list.A “hard man” to let the opposition know we are not going to be a soft touch.In addition, an athletical box to box operator and a young aspiring central striker with pace, strength and aerial ability.I shall send my list off to Santa this morning along with the longer lists of my Grandchildren
From your recent replies to posts, I deduce that you’ve taken a slow stance in your support of Arteta’s methods. He’s probably gotten under your skin too
everton will feel backed into a corner, night game, away. It will be tough and it’s a game where if we dont win we’re opening the floodgates for United/West Ham/Spurs to take over the top 4 race, which seems pretty much out of our reach after we lost to United. Momentum is dead and I dont think this fixture is going to go the way we want it to. We do play with no striker afterall. First thing Arteta can do to rectify Thursday is benching Odegaard. a player he should’ve never signed after his poor initial loan.
our squad is threadbare, we do not have too much quality both on the pitch and on the bench. i know we have a big squad, but, do we have a talented squad ?.i think not,if, we are so dependant on xhaka coming back, as written the venerable adpat earlier, then we are totally screwed.i always ask myself this question regarding our players… can i see a xhaka walking into a chelsea or a liverpool or city team, the answer is a definate NO. nough said.