League leaders Arsenal travel to Merseyside to play their first-ever match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, as hosts Everton look to bounce back from last weekend's disappointing loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal beat bottom-of-the-table Wolves 2-1, bouncing back after their last-minute loss to Aston Villa. However, it wasn't a vintage Arsenal performance, and they eventually needed two own-goals for that last-gasp win, in a game where they took 67 minutes to register their first shot on target. However, that win kept Arsenal two points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. A win against Everton on Saturday will leave Arsenal top on Christmas Day.
Everton last lost 2-0 to Chelsea, losing to goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto, and sent them down to eighth in the league, with Liverpool and Sunderland both moving above David Moyes's team in the standings.
Here's all you need to know about the match!
How to watch Everton vs. Arsenal
The match will be telecast on Sky Sports in the U.K., with kickoff at 8 p.m. GMT at the Emirates stadium in London.
NBC will telecast the match in the U.S., JioStar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Are Arsenal dealing well with title race pressure?
If that performance against Wolves was a result of the pressure that Arsenal are under in this title race, then that's not a good sign for them. The pressure is only going to ramp up as we move further along in this season, and Mikel Arteta's team need to find a better way to deal with it.
Against Wolves, they were rushed, imprecise, and generally not very effective. That is not the Arsenal team that Arteta has built -- they are generally meticulous, supremely well-structured in defence, and a force in attack. They need to go back to the basics.
Under no circumstances and against no opposition are this Arsenal squad poor enough to have to wait 67 minutes for as much as a shot on target. The near-misses of the last few years will definitely impact their psyche, as this title race moves along this season, but Arsenal are an excellent football team, they shouldn't have to pay much attention to the pressure.
Of course, it's easier said than done, but if Arsenal play their best football, they beat most teams in the league.
Ndiaye and Gueye are huge misses for Everton
This will be the first of potentially seven games where Everton will have to do without the services of Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye. They are both monumental misses for Moyes, having gone to join Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations. Adding to Moyes's woes is the injury to German midfielder Merlin Rohl and uncertainty over the fitness of Kieran Dewsbury-Hall. With Gueye not there, it is a dicey call for Moyes to make. If Dewsbury-Hall is unfit too, then the most likely scenario is that both Tim Iroegbunam and Carlos Alcaraz come into the Everton midfield, alongside James Garner.
Young Tyler Dibling, for whom Everton paid a significant amount of money in the summer, will likely be a straight swap Ndiaye in the wide areas. That heaps the pressure on Jack Grealish, who will have to take the team's attacking burden on his shoulders, as Everton look for a big performance at home. Can Iroegbunam handle the pressure and intensity of the occasion, against players of the quality of Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice?
Arsenal's break has come at the right time
William Saliba came back into the Arsenal side last weekend against Wolves, but they were dealt a further blow, with Ben White going off the field injured in that game. That now means Arsenal are short of options at centre-back, with only Saliba and Piero Hincapie available. Jurriën Timber will have to play at right-back in White's absence, but Riccardo Calafiori's return after being suspended for the Wolves game is welcome.
However, this week was Arsenal's first without a midweek game since September. It's been a draining schedule, so Arteta will welcome the rest that his players have got. More than just refreshing tired bodies and minds, the break would've done Arsenal good in terms of Arteta trying to also refine some of the things they do on the pitch. With the cycle of games and recovery for three months, there was hardly any time for training in between. Now there has been. Can Arsenal find attacking spark against an Everton side that may set up defensively?
Can Moyes deliver against a big team again?
Against the 'Big 6', David Moyes has won 45, drawn 58 and lost 129 of the Premier League games that he has managed. It's a very poor record -- a win rate of less than 20%. The only reason why Everton fans won't utterly hate reading it right now is that Moyes generally does better at home than he does away against the big teams. This season, Everton have beaten Manchester United away from home, but they've lost to Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Exactly a 20% win rate against the Big 6 so far this season. Going by that statistical pattern, Everton probably won't beat Arsenal on Saturday night, but it's that history Moyes will want to fight.
They are hamstrung by injuries, but with a raucous crowd behind them, can Everton pull off a win that could be seismic for the Premier League this season?
Gyökeres out, Merino in?
Viktor Gyökeres's initiation to English football has been far from smooth. He has scored six goals in 19 games, but since his return from an injury last month, he's been a very fleeting presence in Arsenal's attack. Merino, on the other hand, has always delivered when called upon. With Gyökeres and Gabriel Jesus both back into the mix after their injuries, it might have seemed like Merino's presence in Arsenal's attack wouldn't be needed, but that isn't the case.
The Spaniard's hold-up play, his dropping deep to help with build-up and adding an extra man in midfield, and his clinical finishing are all aspects of his game that Arsenal do miss when he's not playing.