Arsenal take on Everton in their final game of the campaign and they need to win at any cost if they want to stand a chance at finishing fourth on the Premier League table.
The Gunners need to pick up all three points and then pray that Spurs stumble as well so that they can reclaim the fourth spot from their arch-rivals. This combination of results will be very hard to achieve because firstly, Spurs take on Norwich City so we don’t see them losing and on the other hand, Everton have avoided relegation so they can play without any nervousness.
Arsenal are set to be without some very important players:
Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey have been out for a long time but there was a glimmer of hope that Partey might be fit to play on Sunday because he’s returned to training.
The midfielder has joined his teammates in training this week but Football.London is claiming that he will not be available for selection on Sunday.
This is a major issue for the manager because after Granit Xhaka’s post-match interview on Monday Arteta would have loved to bench him but with Thomas Partey absent, he cannot afford to do that.
Thomas Partey back in training. 🇬🇠pic.twitter.com/VhNS8NOZmZ
— Connor Humm (@TikiTakaConnor) May 21, 2022
Apart from these two players, Tomiyasu is also set to miss out after he picked up an injury during the Newcastle United game.
Will all these absentees be a problem for the Arsenal manager?
Everton pulled off a remarkable win against Palace and as a result of those three points, Lampard’s players can go out and play without any pressure on Sunday.
This can obviously end up making Everton lethargic but it can also bring the best out of them. If the latter happens then Arsenal are in big trouble because Mikel Arteta cannot afford to make wholesale changes to his side.
If his first XI does not click then the Arsenal boss will not have too many fall-back options on Sunday and this is primarily his own doing because he failed to bring in even a single new signing in January.
On paper, Arsenal have what it takes to beat Everton but after how they played against Palace, Lampard’s men will be confident they can end the season on a high by crushing Arsenal’s Champions League dreams.
