Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has hailed Everton as the strongest side Arsenal has faced in the Premier League this term after yesterday’s clash saw them play out a entertaining 1-1 draw.
It was expected that Arsenal may have a fitness advantage after Wenger named four changes to the Arsenal side that played in midweek against Hull and Everton naming an unchanged line-up.
The Toffees came to the Emirates fearless on the back of their historic win at Old Trafford in midweek and were certainly on top of the Gunners for a majority of the first half.
Arteta is quoted as saying by The Mirror:
Everton are the best side we have faced this season in the Premier League.
It was a really tough game, a really high tempo game.
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They dominated the first 35 minutes or so but after that we had three clear chances.
In the second half we were the better side.
They [Everton] been getting results because they are doing things right.
They have a good mix of players and are hard to deal with.
While the Gunners will no doubt be disappointed in conceding very late on, a share of the spoils was probably a fair result considering how the whole match played out.
Looking at the quality of the match, I would have to agree with Arteta’s assessment. While the Gunners did lose to Manchester United before the international break the Gunners admittedly played a poor match and the loss to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup was a match where Wenger fielded a second string side.
A lot of people have lambasted Manchester United’s loss to Everton in midweek, but I think Everton should be given more credit and look to be the goods under Roberto Martinez this campaign after only losing one match so far this season.
The additions of Barry and Lukaku, coupled with the breakthrough of Barkley, has been instrumental to their improvement, while Barcelona loanee Deulofeu looks as though he will make waves later on in the campaign. They certainly look like a team to look out for and I wouldn’t put it passed them to make the top four come the end of the season.
What do you guys think? Feel free to leave a comment below!
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