It did prove to be a tough match and referee Mike Riley didn't want to clamp down on the silly niggly fouls from the likes of Neville.
No red cards shown, in fact I was surprised to see the weak Riley book anyone at all... espacially Gallas who had to be mugged, caught in a head-lock and then stamped on to get his yellow card. Where is the consistency in refereeing?
What Arsenal Need: Arsenal need to take their early chances to score and look to control the match as soon as possible. The team that dominate the midfield will win this match. Hoyte needs to try and balance his forays into attack with his defensive responsibilities.
Arsenal didn't take any chances in open play and had to depend on a brilliant free-kick to rescue a point. Arsenal struggled to play their usual style of football against Everton, who defended in numbers.
Hoyte was playing well until he was injured in the 39th minute and replaced by Flamini.
Things To Watch Out For: It will be interesting to see how Arsenal cope with the tough Everton tackling. Johnson and Cahill will be Everton's most dangerous players and the Gunners need to keep close tabs on them. I'm still keeping an eye on Henry, just to see how he interacts with his team-mates... especially if things aren't going well.
Well Arsenal had to grin and bare it against the tacklers in blue as the referee didn't want to clamp down on repetitive fouls by the same players.
Johnson did a lot of running... although most of it was in his own half, he ran non-stop for the full 90 minutes. Cahill snatched the goal and then did little else other than mug Gallas.
Henry had glimpses of brilliance in close control but made fewer runs than usual. The reason for this was that Everton sat so deep, there was no space for him to run into. When he did run into space, the pass didn't reach him.
Hopes For The Match: I hope Arsenal give as good as they get in the battle to control the midfield. Arsenal don't need any more injuries, as the current list of players unavailable is already too long:
Lauren
Diaby
Adebayor
Baptista
Ljungberg
Eboue
Well it looks like Hoyte will be out for Wednesday and although I was inspired by the Eboue-like runs from young Walcott, I'd guess Wenger will play Flamini there against the Russians.
My team selection for this game:
Henry, van Persie
Rosicky, Gilberto, Fabregas, Hleb
Gallas, Djourou, Toure, Hoyte
Lehmann
Subs: Almunia, Walcott, Senderos, Flamini, Aliadiere.
All my team predictions were correct and maybe this highlights a problem at Arsenal? If I can guess the team and the subs bench, then so can the players. How much pressure is there on players from their team mates to retain their place? Arsenal need a healthy squad to instill some competition for places.
Long-term issues: Clichy has been left out of the squad as Wenger takes his time with the young man's comeback.
I can't wait for Clichy to be fully fit and is it me or has he grown a bit?
Prediction: Arsenal 2 Everton 1
Score: Arsenal 1 Everton 1
