Arsenal will visit Everton in a very important match in the fight for a place in the next Champions League, and the Gunners want to get a victory at Goodison Park, so, in my opinion, Arsène Wenger will choose an offensive midfield, and a 4-2-3-1 scheme as always. Arsenal doesn’t have any banned player, but they have many injured ones.
The goalkeeper will be Wojciech Szczęsny – he’s always Wenger’s choice. In defense, Laurent Koscielny is still out. The Frenchman will return in one or two weeks, and since then Thomas Vermaelen will be the partner of Per Mertesacker in the center back.
Bacary Sagna will play in the right back as he always does. In the left, Nacho Monreal is back in training after a foot injury that sidelined him for three weeks, and in my opinion, he will play from the beginning, because Kieran Gibbs has an ankle problem and is in doubt.
The Gunners’ midfield is very affected by injuries. Apart from Theo Walcott (knee) and Jack Wilshere (foot), who will be out for a lot of games, Mesut Özil (hamstring) and Serge Gnabry (knee) are confirmed to be out of the Everton game and also of the FA Cup semifinal against Wigan Athletic on April 12.
The good news is that Aaron Ramsey is back in the squad after more than three months out of the pitch due to a thigh injury. However, I don’t think that Wenger will risk him, taking into account his large inactivity. He will at most enter a couple of minutes before the end of the match.
In my opinion, Wenger will choose a less defensive midfield than the one that played against Manchester City, because Everton has less goal threats than the Citizens. I think he’ll pick Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky in the defensive midfield, leaving Mathieu Flamini out, since playing with the Frenchman and Arteta would be very defensive and the Gunners want a victory.
In the offensive midfield, my opinion is that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will return to the lineup in the right side, while Lukas Podolski will play in the left and Santiago Cazorla in the center.
Finally, Olivier Giroud will be the boss’ striker as usual. He’s Wenger’s favorite, and I think that Yaya Sanogo may play a few minutes, replacing Giroud in the last minutes.
