Arsenal battles Everton for Top 4

Arsenal faces a motivated and rejuvenated Everton side on Sunday in battle for the English Premiership top four slot.

Everton are on a great run, and they are in fifth place in the league table, four points behind Arsenal.

This encounter could go a long way to deciding who takes fourth place in the Premier League and Champions League football for next season.

Also, Everton will look to seek revenge against the Gunners after they lost their FA Cup meeting 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium last month. Everton are on a terrific run in the league having won each of their last five league matches to put them within four points of Arsenal going into this fixture.

They still have to catch Arsenal to do it, and losing this match would blow out those Champions League aspirations.

Arsenal played to a 1-1 draw facing Manchester City in their last match, which was a solid outcome as home underdogs.

However, they are now seven points behind Liverpool for the Premier League title, and time is running out for the Gunners.

The Gunners, however, have struggled for form having only won one of their last five matches; they led the Premier League for much of the season, but came down since February and may have lost the odds to win the League. But their second half performance in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City will give them reason to believe they can hold off Everton for fourth place.

Earlier this season at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners and Toffees played out a 1-1 draw.

Everton have been solid on both sides of the pitch in their five-match winning streak, and they have scored nine goals and only conceded three in their past three.

Arsenal knocked Everton out of the in the FA Cup quarter-final last month, but Oxlade-Chamberlain admits the tie was closer than it sounds.

“I think 4-1 maybe didn’t do Everton too much justice; they had a lot of chances themselves and played well for the majority of the game – as we did,” he said.

“It was a really good game, it just happened that towards the end of the match they were pushing to equalise and we managed to get two really good goals on the counter.

“To take a win like that into the next time you face them is always a positive. But we can’t let that cloud our judgement on what to expect because it is going to be a really hard game for us.”

Romelu Lukaku leads Everton in goals but, while he is the big gun, six different players have scored a goal in the past few wins.

Arsenal’s defence was solid and compact in the Manchester City draw and their midfield combated the City attacking pressure. If they can play Everton like they played Man City at home, they stand a good chance to get the three points from this match.

The Gunners put solid pressure on the Man City defence and, with the squad really needing the three points; they will attack in this match. Olivier Giroud leads Arsenal with 13 goals and eight players have at least three goals.

Second leading goalscorer Aaron Ramsey is still out with an injury.

A loss in this match for both clubs will be huge, as it may cost the Gunners a shot at the league title and the Toffees a chance to play in the Champions League next season.

Everton have a single loss on their pitch this season, and they have beaten Chelsea and played to a draw against Liverpool.

Everton are four points behind Arsenal with a game in hand and, in my opinion, if Arsenal avoid defeat in this game, then they will finish fourth and they can go and concentrate on the FA Cup.

If they lose this game then by the time they play their next league match they could be fifth – and that would be psychologically damaging – especially when Everton are flying. I still think Arsenal will finish fourth because they have better fixtures than Everton, but this will be a hard game for them.

They can’t afford to lose it and I think they will get a draw – but Everton will know that this is their chance.

Anthony Nlebem