The Gunners held on to the EPL top spot when they beat Leicester City 1-0 during the weekend while Everton slipped back to the relegation zone after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. Controversial VAR decisions again threatened to derail Arsenal's title bid as a stunning goal for Leandro Trossard against Leicester was ruled out before Harry Souttar escaped punishment for a perceived foul on Bukayo Saka in the area. However, Arsenal were not to be denied victory at King Power Stadium as they took all three points at the blow of the whistle thanks to Gabriel Martinelli's superb finish. This ensured that the Gunners had a five-point lead against the title holders and their closest challengers Manchester City.

The gap was, however, quickly reduced back to four points as the champions thumped Bournemouth 4-0 in their fixture. Arsenal have one game in hand, however, but the game is against Manchester City which makes the title race even more interesting. Arsenal have only two clean sheets to boast for in their last 16 games at the Emirates and will have to be keen with their backline in tonight's game against Everton who are a desperate opponent fighting to avoid relegation. Mikel Arteta's men, however, could possibly become just the third Arsenal team to reach 60 points in their first 25 Premier League games with the first crop being the invincibles of 2003-04 who played all 38 Premier League matches unbeaten under the stewardship and tutelage of Arsene Wenger. He then achieved the same feat again with a different squad in the 2007-08 season. 

A new history page must be written if Everton are to come away with all three points tonight as they have never won a Premier League match on the road if they are playing against the top side on the table and their recent away record does not boost confidence neither does it increase optimism of such a scenario happening tonight at the Emirates. They are now without a win in their last seven EPL games away from home. It is worth noting, however, that Everton beat Arsenal 1-0 thanks to  James Tarkowski early in February. It can be safe to say that in tonight's match, vengeance will be top of the Gunners' menu. 

(Image: The Sun)