Arsenal win ugly again as Gyokeres penalty reclaims top spot

Good evening and welcome to the Telegraph’s live Premier League coverage of title-chasing Arsenal’s trip to Merseyside to take on Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The visitors started today atop of the table, but after Manchester City’s comfortable home win against West Ham earlier this afternoon, Arsenal will be well aware only a victory tonight will take them back to the Premier League summit in time for Christmas, due to City’s superior goal difference.

This match marks six years to the day since visiting manager (and former Everton player) Mikel Arteta’s first match in charge of Arsenal, a 1-1 league draw away at Bournemouth. On Friday, the Spaniard spoke in his pre-match press conference about how much he has enjoyed his tenure so far, and how he is relishing his team’s first visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The 43-year-old said: “It’s [His six years in charge] gone fast, a lot happened but it’s been an incredible journey and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

Speaking on his team’s trip to the new stadium, he said: “It’s strange, but very exciting as well. I think obviously one of the most iconic stadiums in the Premier League is no longer part of our schedule, but we’re going to have the opportunity to win as well, the opportunity to win at an incredible stadium that they built, and Saturday night, you know what you expect.

“In the last few years, [we’ve had] very good records away from home and those are the places that you have to go and win the game. In order to achieve that, we’re going to have to be really good.”

However, Arsenal enter this match without a win in their past three league away matches, with their most recent top-flight match on the road culminating in a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. What’s more, Arteta’s team have only won one of their previous seven visits to Everton, so the visitors will need to reverse their recent fortunes on their travels to retain the initiative in this title race.

Meanwhile, Everton manager David Moyes will be buoyed by the availability of Jack Grealish for this fixture, but will not be able to call upon star midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall due to injury. The 62-year old Scotsman was in great spirits in his pre-match press conference on Friday, and remarked on his team’s possible battle for European football next season.

Moyes said: “Every win gives you that feeling you have a chance to make Europe. Every defeat makes you think, ‘hey, let’s just behave ourselves a little bit and think a bit clearer’. That’s just the way the Premier League is this season.

“We won four games out of five which got us in a really good strong position and made us think: ‘This is getting better.’… If we had beaten Chelsea last week we could have probably got ourselves up to fourth or fifth in the league, which would have been terrific. So I hope we get those opportunities again later in the season.”

Will Arsenal emerge victorious at Everton to become this year’s “Christmas Number One”? Or will David Moyes inflict a damaging defeat onto Arsenal tonight and heap more away day blues upon his former player Arteta?

Team news to follow shortly.