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In his debut game as Everton's manager, Sean Dyche will face the Premier League's undisputed leaders, Arsenal, at midday on a Saturday.
The Gunners want to increase their advantage to eight points at the top of the Premier League table, despite the fact that they are eighteen positions and 35 points ahead of their opponents.
They must have weighed the high-pressing, fast-paced Marcelo Bielsa brand of play against the promise of a tight-knit defense that Dyche would bring, since following last week's 2-0 defeat to West Ham United, Everton decided to replace the doomed Frank Lampard with him.
Dyche clearly inherits a poisoned chalice at Goodison Park, where dissatisfied supporters have been making their opinions known for some time, and Jarrod Bowen struck the last two nails in Lampard's coffin with a match-winning brace at the London Stadium.
Dyche takes over with the Toffees in 19th place after selling star player Anthony Gordon and failing to bring in any new faces during the January transfer window; nevertheless, a surprise victory against Arsenal might see the hosts leap over the dotted line if other results go in their favor.
While Dyche has been given a laundry list of issues to address at Everton, the team's current winless streak of 10 games dating back to a 3-0 victory over London rivals Crystal Palace on October 22nd will be the first priority.
The Toffees have also lost four consecutive matches at Goodison Park in the Premier League, but they have scored at least once in each of their previous three home games. Meanwhile, Arsenal supporters have bitter memories of the blue half of Merseyside from the last several years.
Arsenal's incredible start to the season came to an end last week in the fourth round of the FA Cup as they traveled to Etihad Stadium to take on nearest contenders Manchester City for the first time this season and were soundly defeated.
Despite the Gunners' best efforts in the first half, inspired by the lively Leandro Trossard, Mikel Arteta was unable to find a way past his old club's resolute defense, and the home team ultimately prevailed 1-0 thanks to a striker's finish from Nathan Ake.
Some Arsenal fans are glad that their team was eliminated from the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup so they can focus solely on the Premier League and the Europa League for the rest of the season in their quest to stay eight points ahead of Manchester City, who don't play again until Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur.
The 50-point Gunners, who have a game in hand on Man City, are on track to match the Citizens' centurions of 2017-18 if they continue in the same vein, and they enter Saturday's game unbeaten in 13 top-flight matches, having gained some measure of revenge over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium two weeks ago following their Old Trafford defeat by defeating United 2-1.
Arsenal have won six of their previous seven away Premier League games and finished the 2021-22 season with a 5-1 thrashing of Everton at the Emirates Stadium, but they have lost both of their last two against Everton at Goodison Park and may be dreading a typical new manager bounce here.