Morning folks, how we all doing? Looking forward to tomorrow night’s slugfest against Everton?

Because let’s face it, it will be a slugfest. It will be a gruelling, grinding, low-blocking, frustration of an evening as Everton try to double up on our wide forwards, they camp on the edge of their own box with bodies, then look to take advantage of things like corners and free kicks where they can try to overload our box.

I decided the check in on Sean Dyche’s press conference yesterday to see what he’s said ahead of the game. There’s nothing massively controversial to be fair to him, but he does talk about the fact that Calvert-Lewin is out and that in itself means the game plan is different for them. In the game at Goodison he was the guy who was their anchor point for balls out from the back. He was strong, physical, could hold the ball up and generally cause our centre halves problems. Without him there they will either rely on Maupay to be a nuisance (which he is very much capable of doing), or they’ll go for somebody like that Ellis Simms fella, who will provide a slightly different threat altogether. But whoever they pick, the hope is that we can marshal them well enough to keep any potential threat quiet.

The win against Leicester at the weekend will certainly have helped in that regard. I honestly can’t remember a more dominant Arsenal away performance and if we can be as miserly at the back as we were at the King Power, then it’ll go a long way to helping us chase down that first Premier League title since 2004. Leicester may have been missing some of their creative spark, but as Dyche’s presser showed yesterday in terms of the questions the journo’s ask, Everton have their own attacking problems. Everton have 17 goals in 24 games – the lowest in the division – and are currently sitting in the bottom three. They always seem to be able to get something against us at Goodison, but the hope has to be that tomorrow night we get the revenge that I hope the players are craving; I know I certainly am.

But enough about tomorrow night, because I’ll have nothing to say tomorrow, so instead what else is going on in the Arsenal world? Well, it appears as though the press are starting to create some murmurs about Gabriel Jesus’ return to first team action, which will be a very welcome boost for us all as it really does hit squeaky bum time. Eddie has performed admirably as the second in command holding the fort, but as Trossard’s involvement showed, we need a little something different to break down these stubborn teams and I thought Leo showed us just what you get with a player who is willing to take up different positions. Eddie is a striker’s striker; he wants to be getting in behind and on the end of chances. Trossard wants to be more involved in build up like Gabriel Jesus does and it can be no coincidence that Martinelli’s goal last weekend came as a result of Trossard drifting wide to create that pocket for Martinelli to run in to.

There hasn’t been much talk of a specific return date and I doubt Arteta will give anything away today when he has his presser, but a few of the papers are suggesting Arsenal expect him back before the internationals. That’s week commencing 25th March. Before then we have Everton tomorrow, Bournemouth at the weekend, Sporting Lisbon on the Thursday, then Fulham away the following Sunday. It’s then Sporting Lisbon and the Palace at home. For me personally I’d be looking at the Fulham game and seeing if we can integrate Gabby J then. My hope is that for Everton, Bournemouth and Sporting we have the players in Eddie and Trossard who can share duties, but Fulham are a very good side and pushing for European places at the top of the division. If you can see the return of Gabby Jesus to the bench for then, it would be a big boost for the team and also have us set up for the run in with one of the most influential players in our team for the post-internationals final run in. At Fulham we have 11 games to go until the end of the season. When you hit ten games to go, which will be Palace at home, you want your squad as fit as possible.

The other good news is with Smith Rowe getting some minutes with the under-21s yesterday. He played the first half against Chelsea to get some important minutes under his belt and – assuming he came through unscathed – I suspect Arteta might want him on the bench tomorrow night. If he can get 45 minutes for the u21s sorted and ticked off, then maybe he can manage the last ten against Everton tomorrow? Or event get him playing 30 minutes at home to Bournemouth at the weekend?

Whatever the recovery time is, it is another welcome boost and I find it interesting at how easily I had just forgotten just how much of an impact this guy can have. He is powerful when running with the ball at his feet, he bagged loads of goals last season from the start and off the bench, plus he’ll take up positions in the box that will make it difficult for defenders. He can play wide left, in the eight, in Odegaard’s position and possibly even as an understudy to Saka. Smith Rowe returning could be a very important player. If, for example, we are frustrated against Everton and looking for a goal against the Toffees’ tired legs, Arteta could call on ESR, Vieira, Trossard/Nketiah depending on who doesn’t start – there are a number of options. I suspect we will need to find a way to unlock a stubborn Everton defence and if they are sitting deep then you don’t want players who have pace and prefer to run in behind, you need players with a good finish, good close control, players who can operate in tight spaces. I feel like Trossard is certainly that, but ESR also has that dribbling ability too, as well as Saka. My hope is that we are more equipped to deal with Everton now than we were just a few short weeks ago.

We can’t be complacent, we can’t just assume the three points are ours, but with returning players all coming back as reinforcements to this team, the hope is that we have the keys to unlock teams even more now.

Catch you wonderful people tomorrow.