All the latest news and gossip from the past 24 hours at The Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal take on Everton at the weekend, welcoming Roberto Martinez’s men to The Emirates on the back of a win against Manchester United.
Team news for the game now and Bacary Sagna is still absent with injury as are long-term absentees Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yaya Sanogo.
The team could change. Wenger swapped things around for the game against Hull in midweek but with a busy schedule ahead rotation is necessary – and Aaron Ramsey could be one player given a rest.
Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta are also pushing for recalls.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has made it clear that Arsenal have earned their respect ahead of the tie. The Spaniard stated:
“Arsenal deserve a lot of respect. If you, in the first 14 games, if you’re capable of winning 11 games, I think you’re the outstanding team in the competition and that’s why we’ll have to be at our best but again we’re looking at ourselves to try and use this as a terrific test to see how quickly we can improve and how quickly we can challenge this sort of side. It’s an exciting game.”
Arsene Wenger however will not be taking Everton lightly. He said of Martinez’s achievements so far this season:
“Martinez has done remarkably well because they had difficult games. They have played many of the big teams in the league and overall are in a very strong position in the league.”
Alvaro Morata has put the nail in the coffin of any potential loan deal to Arsenal in January. The Spanish under-21 international has said this in regards to leaving in the winter:
“The manager has played me in a lot of difficult matches and I am very happy. I have to repay his trust in me.”
Theo Walcott believes Arsenal are unbeatable in their current form. The England international spoke gushingly of his team-mates recent form:
We have got players coming back to fitness for such a busy period at Christmas and you tend to know where you are by the new year. That belief and trust is there and we are playing beautiful football. I believe that nobody can beat us at the moment given the way we are playing.’
image: © wonker
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