George Overhill

Mon 27 February 2023 19:10, UK

Chris Sutton has predicted Arsenal to even the score after defeat in Sean Dyche’s first game with a win over Everton at The Emirates.

The Toffees dented the Gunners’ title charge with the new manager at the helm for the first time back on 4 February, with James Tarkowski’s header enough for a 1-0 win and a desperately-needed three points.

But after the lack of potency up front was in evidence in the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday (25 February) Sutton expects next to nothing in terms of a goal threat from the visitors in North London on Wednesday night (1 March), and has gone for a 2-0 win to Mikel Arteta’s men.

In his predictions for BBC Sport he said: “Everton gave Aston Villa a decent game on Saturday but they fell back into the bottom three after being beaten, and their big issue is still that they are so short of firepower.

“I saw a Tweet from BBC’s chief football writer Phil McNulty about how the Toffees failure to sign a striker last summer or in January could come back to haunt them, and it’s clear Dominic Calvert-Lewin will have a crucial part to play if they are going to stay up.

“I don’t even see Everton getting near the goal too often on Wednesday, though. Arsenal have bounced back superbly from their defeat to Manchester City with two wins from two tough away games, against Villa and then Leicester.

“The Gunners will have a point to prove after losing at Goodison Park at the start of February – in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of Everton – and I don’t see them having any problems this time.”

Tough task

Even without the frustrating home loss at the weekend it would be difficult to see much of a positive result coming from the trip to Arsenal.

Under Dyche, as with Frank Lampard, Everton appear to be a different proposition away from home compared to Goodison Park on the whole, admittedly from a small sample size with the new boss.

And with the league-leaders still battling after a first title win for 19 years it is going to be an uphill struggle for the visitors.

At the same time it was a shock result that got the Dyche reign off to a flying start, and while there was a suspicion that Arsenal might slip up in that game it was certainly not expected on paper.

If the Toffees boss can get his players to forget the disappointment of the previous outing and the team is able to frustrate the Gunners in front of their home fans there may be space in behind on the counter.

Everton will have to find a lot more going forward if they are going to have a chance of taking advantage however, as they are without a goal in open play from an attacker since Demarai Gray scored at Manchester City on New Year’s Eve.

And if the home side get an early goal then it could be a long night.