Arsenal

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Arsenal and Everton.

Here are some of your comments:

Arsenal fans

Henry: All in all, it was another victory that should boost the confidence of our boys. However, we were sloppy in possession and at times struggled to stream passes together without turning over possession to the opponent. On the flip side, great performance from Gabriel and Konsa.

Philip: A comfortable win with some fluid play in the middle third but still too lateral. Madueke was better on the left, cutting in earlier and feeding the central players better - not dissimilar to Dowman on the right. Still more to offer but getting there! Great to see both centre backs on the scoresheet!

Ndnni: Wasn't an easy win for the champions. The game should have been buried in the first half. Unfortunately, it's results like this that make Arteta not pursue a proven finisher.

Harry: Three more points on a day when Man City dropped three. We seem to be picking up more than our share of injuries though. Overall a good result. A win at Fleetwood on Tuesday please.

Everton fans

Paul: Another game of missed chances. We defended really well but are not clinical enough. We have players on the bench who could freshen things up but it's the same old same old. This is the champions we played so it was always going to be tough. Fingers crossed we can do something against Newcastle mid-week.

Steve: Moyes' record against top six teams tells you all you need to know about his lack of tactical ability - too defensive from the off and no subs when it's obvious to all that the tactics are not working.

Lee: Regardless of small squad, Moyes is very much setting up his team not to get beat! All the attacking threat players sat watching and wondering why they are not involved! You need goals to win games not clean sheets. Time for Moyes to go to Celtic and get Lee Carsley to turn our form around!

Mike: Rinse and repeat performance from Everton. Zero desire to actually try and win the game but sadly I expected no other outcome. While we have a small squad, Moyes continues to persist with square pegs in round holes. Dibling and Hackney must wonder what they must do to start a game. Johnson and Garner are both miles off it.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are monitoring Bayern Munich's 18-year-old Germany midfielder Lennart Karl. (Teamtalk), external

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Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Riccardo Calafiori picked up an injury in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

The left-back came on in the 68th minute but finished the game at left wing with Noni Madueke filling in at left back for the final minutes of the match.

"Yeah I wasn't that mad to change those two from their positions." Arteta said.

"It was because he had a slight issue, we don't know what it is, it seems to be something very small, but he was cautious about it."

The Gunners are back in action on Tuesday night when they play Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup.

Mikel Arteta spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Arsenal's victory against Everton: "It's a big win for us. It was a tough week with the schedule we had to go through, a lot of minutes and the games were coming thick and fast.

"We knew we had a very good opponent in front of us but, overall, we had a good performance and fully deserved to win."

On scoring from a set piece: "I hope now people are enjoying it! Saying we don't score from a set play, now we do. I'm always really happy for the team to find different ways to unlock the opposition and create problems."

On Gabriel injury scare: "We all [thought he would have to come off] by the reaction of his team-mates. It was a really worrying action. We know Gabi and how tough and strong he is - and he seems to be OK."

On performance after making changes: "Delighted. For the most part, I thought we were the better team and dominated the game.

"But Everton had their spells as usual. To be able to change five players and still play at that level is impressive."

Defender Ezri Konsa spoke to Premier League Productions: "Great feeling, it always is. A clean sheet, a goal - my first goal for the club - so a fantastic day overall."

On his goal: "I've been waiting to score my first goal for a while. I spoke to the set piece coach before the game and he told me he's been waiting for my goal as well, so it was only right that I got the goal today."

On Gabriel scoring on his 200th Premier League appearance: "Very pleased for him. He's a top, top player. Top human being. Very happy for him. He's my life easy since I've joined the club and it's been a pleasure playing alongside him."

On good form at Emirates: "I've come to this stadium for many seasons, I know how tough it is to play against us. It's not surprising to me.

"We are champions and to be champions you've got to win games consistently. This is our home and we want to win as many games here as possible."

Did you know?

• Ezri Konsa's opener was Arsenal's first set piece goal (excluding penalties) since May against Crystal Palace, ending a run of 13 games without one.

• In his 200th Premier League appearance, Gabriel scored his 21st goal in the competition for Arsenal. This was his first not to come from a set piece situation.

Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This was Arsenal's first match since Bukayo Saka's quadriceps injury which is set to rule him out for at least six weeks.

Saka's absence meant Noni Madueke was back on his favoured right wing and he put in a positive performance with his direct running a constant threat to the Everton backline.

The England international should have scored after being played through by Declan Rice in the first half but Madueke can be pleased with his display in front of watching England manager Thomas Tuchel.

Eberechi Eze was bright on the left wing after scoring in the midweek Champions League draw with Bayern Munich, while manager Mikel Arteta will be delighted that his side have found a way to score from set-pieces again.

Last season, the Gunners led the league with 25 goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) and set a new record for goals scored from corners at 19.

And after a fallow opening seven games, Ezri Konsa's goal got them up and running for this campaign.

Konsa and Gabriel have formed one of the best defensive partnerships in the league but on this evidence, their threat in the opposition box further underlined their all-round assets to the team.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Arsenal's performance

What did you make of Everton's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Aston Villa v Manchester City (12:30)

• Arsenal v Everton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Coventry City v Fulham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Chelsea v Tottenham (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Arsenal were so ugly in the way they beat Nottingham Forest last weekend, but were a lot easier on the eye in the midweek draw with Bayern Munich.

They are going to be without the injured Bukayo Saka for this game, but they are at home and they should still have too much for Everton.

Everton will make it tough for them, of course, but I am not sure how they will hurt the Gunners.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport journalist

Finishing was a problem last weekend for Arsenal, who had 74% possession but only one shot on target against Nottingham Forest. It was one of their "finishers", as manager Mikel Arteta likes to call substitutes, who yet again saved the day.

That shot from Noni Madueke, which deflected into the Forest net 10 minutes from time, meant that it was their third Premier League victory in a row in which a player from the bench had scored the winner.

It may not have been pretty but it was enough for three points, and is further proof of Arteta's ability to make game-changing substitutions.

Since the Spaniard's appointment in December 2019, Arsenal have scored more winning goals from substitutes than any other team, and their tally of three this season is already halfway towards the record of six, also set by Arteta's team in 2024-25.

It was Arsenal's 32nd 1-0 win in the Premier League of Arteta's tenure, the joint-highest figure in that time frame, along with Everton. So, there might not be goals galore on Saturday - not least because Everton also struggled in attack last weekend against Chelsea, failing to score in a Premier League home game for the first time since February.

They had just six shots, their fewest in a Premier League game in nearly a year.

They could have their work cut out to improve on that at the Emirates. This season, Arsenal have conceded just five league goals, facing fewer shots on target (21) and having a lower xG against (5.6) than any other side.

The Toffees have won just one of their past 30 away Premier League matches against the Gunners, losing 24 of those. Under David Moyes, Everton have never won away at Arsenal in the league in 13 attempts, losing 10 times in that run.

But Everton had gone undefeated in the league this season until last weekend, so Moyes will have hope of breaking his Arsenal duck, which would also end his side's eight-game winless run on the road, and could propel the Toffees up into the top five in the Premier League.

Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal fear Bukayo Saka could miss a minimum of six weeks with the quadriceps injury he sustained in their Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.

The 25-year-old will undergo an MRI scan on Friday afternoon to better assess the problem, which forced him off in Wednesday's 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena.

Fluid around the affected muscle has made diagnosing the injury difficult, but club medics are estimating, after early examinations, Saka will miss a minimum of six weeks and it could be even longer.

It is a major blow for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.

The Gunners boss had been speaking about how the player had been adapting his positioning to be more of a regular goalscorer for the club in recent weeks and the winger has scored four goals in 11 appearances so far this season.

But now Saka has gone down with another muscle injury there are questions about whether he still has the robustness that made him a certain starter in the Arsenal team.

The 25-year-old had Achilles, hip and hamstring problems last campaign and underwent surgery on a hamstring injury in the previous season which kept him out for 101 days.

He also had his game time managed at the World Cup in the summer with England and Arteta acknowledged Saka's robustness and availability has "certainly been different in the last year or so".

The Gunners tried to sign a world-class forward to level up their frontline in the summer but were unable to do so, with unsuccessful pursuits of Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez.

They did bring in Greece international Christos Tzolis, but he is currently injured too.

That has left them with Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and 16-year-old Max Dowman as alternative wing options.

Teenager Dowman has had limited minutes this season but Arteta spoke glowingly of his talent and ability to impact matches.

Read more about Saka's latest injury here

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Everton at Emirates Stadium (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On Bukayo Saka's injury after coming off against Bayern Munich: "We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists. Let's be a little bit patient so we can give a definitive answer." The Gunners fear the 25-year-old could be out for two months.

• When asked if it could affect the winger's style of play: "I don't know what's going to happen in the future. It's been muscles, it's been tendons as well, which is something else. That's not just with Bukayo, with many other players as well. We discussed that last year and that's why we need to keep an eye on him."

• On potential options to replace him: "I'm extremely happy with how Eze reacted to the previous game and the impact he had on the team and the performance that he put in. [Max Dowman] is something inevitable. He's training and every time he's got a moment to play, he's showing that he's a player who is going to impact the game, so for sure he's going to have minutes."

• When asked if Saka is "losing robustness": "He's certainly been different in the last year or so, but the demands that go into the players are immense with club and international competitions, and the time between games is getting narrower. There are less than 66 or 67 hours between games, and every hour is important. The support would be really appreciated, and it's the same for every team."

• Defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie are both available to play but the former is "in a different place" because he had a full pre-season.

• Arteta said Martin Zubimendi needs to "earn the right to play" after struggling for game time: "He a had a few [games], then he had an injury and had one game when he was almost fully available to play some minutes. I need to find the right games to give him the opportunity and I know what his response is going to be when I do that. He has been exceptional in whatever role he has had to assume. He is a player who deserves more minutes."

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