Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has played down rumours of a rift between William Saliba and Gabriel after the defenders were involved in a heated argument during the win at Leicester City on Saturday.
The Gunners' narrow 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli's second-half strike, meant Arsenal maintained their two-point advantage over Manchester City at the weekend – that will increase to five points if they win their game in hand against Everton on Wednesday.
But their appeared to be flashpoint when Saliba and Gabriel seemed to be engaged in an angry exchange at the end of the game that reportedly resulted in the Frenchman shoving his Brazilian teammate away.
And while Arteta did not go into any detail about what the spat was over, he did insist there were no problems between the pair. “I don’t want robots,” said the Spanish coach ahead of their game at the Emirates Stadium.
“I want players with feeling, with passion that makes demands of each other but at the end they have that chemistry.
“Those two certainly have that chemistry on and off the field and I love that, even when winning, they want to do better.
“They are a happy marriage! They love playing with each other, but they are really demanding with each other – which is good. Everything is fine.”
Arteta believes that their squad depth will be crucial in the coming busy weeks ahead as they look to hold on to their advantage over City and also kick-off their Europa League knockout campaign against Sporting Lisbon in the last 16.
“The fact we have options right now, that we have players coming back from injury is going to be crucial because players cannot maintain the same level for 10 months, it is just impossible,” Arteta added. “We need to change and be more unpredictable and we have those options now.”
Everton manager Sean Dyche, meanwhile, said his team need to show a “strong jaw” away from home if they are to succeed in their bid to avoid relegation.
Everton 1 Arsenal 0: Player ratings
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EVERTON RATINGS: Jordan Pickford - 7, Showed plenty of authority to come out and deal with balls into the box and convincingly saved Leandro Trossard’s shot. Booked for time wasting. AP -
Seamus Coleman - 9, Matched Gabriel Martinelli and hit him with a big tackle early on and continued to do a good job on the Brazilian for the rest of the game. Delivered a great cross to set up a chance for Calvert-Lewin. AP -
Conor Coady - 9, Made a whole host of important interventions, including clearing Bukayo Saka’s shot off the line, recovering after his header hit Eddie Nketiah and halting Martin Odegaard’s run into the box. AP -
James Tarkowski - 9, Put in a solid display as he made a great tackle to cut out Saka’s pass to Nketiah, but did sell himself for the striker’s chance. Had a header go out off William Saliba at the other end, but then headed in Everton’s winner. EPA -
Vitaliy Mykolenko - 8, Set the tone for Everton with his aggressive start and did a superb job of dealing with Saka. Took charge to deal with the ball after a loose touch from Nketiah but hit a horrible shot at the other end. Booked for cynically tripping Saka. AP -
Alex Iwobi - 6, Put in a lot of good work to help the full-back behind him and delivered a good cross that forced Gabriel Magalhaes into an awkward clearance. His cross was poor after some great work from Calvert-Lewin, and he was saved by Coady after playing a poor pass. Getty -
Abdoulaye Doucoure - 7, Was very busy at times and did well to win a free-kick from Thomas Partey, although he sent a header horribly wide. Did well to cut out Odegaard’s pass through. AP -
Idrissa Gueye - 8, Broke up Arsenal play well at various points throughout the match, even if he gave away a couple of needless free-kicks for catching players with his hands. AFP -
Amadou Onana - 9, Broke up Arsenal play and often got Everton going forward, making a great run and coming within inches of finding Calvert-Lewin. Was also a threat in the air and tried to beat Aaron Ramsdale with an inventive shot. Booked for a lunging tackle on Ben White. AFP -
Dwight McNeil - 8, His defensive work to help out the full-back was superb. Also made a good drive forward before seeing his shot blocked and delivered a great cross for Doucoure’s chance. His set piece deliveries were brilliant throughout and he provided the assist for Tarkowski. Getty -
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - 7, Competed brilliantly throughout to give Everton a platform to build from. Couldn’t quite get his goal as he came within inches of reaching Onana’s pass then headed wide. EPA -
SUB: Neal Maupay (Calvert-Lewin, 62’) - 6, Couldn’t provide the focal point Calvert-Lewin had and hit a poor shot from range. Booked for a foul on Oleksandr Zinchenko as he worked hard to help run the clock down in the closing stages. AP -
ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 7, Did brilliantly to beat Calvert-Lewin to a loose ball and authoritatively dealt with McNeil’s floated cross. Nothing he could have done about the goal. AP -
Ben White - 6, Was tested by McNeil but defended well and played some nice switches. His sloppy pass was almost punished. Getty -
William Saliba - 6, Played a couple of poor passes and had moments where Calvert-Lewin made him uncomfortable, but blocked a threatening shot from McNeil, then did brilliantly to deny Onana a clear header at the back post. Action Images -
Gabriel Magalhaes - 7, Often showed authority in his defending, heading away Iwobi’s cross well and controlling Ramsdale’s pass, but completely lost Doucoure for his headed chance. AFP -
Oleksandr Zinchenko - 5, Got into good positions and passed the ball well but disappointed at some key moments. Booked after reacting to Maupay foul. Getty -
Martin Odegaard - 4, Received the ball in tight spaces but couldn’t open Everton up, as epitomised by his pass not quite finding White. Hit a wild shot after good work from Nketiah and was then shrugged aside by Tarkowski for the opener. Getty -
Thomas Partey - 5, Failed to impose himself on the game, with his shot from range comfortable for Pickford to deal with. Gave away a foul after playing a loose pass. AP -
Granit Xhaka – 5, Struggled to overcome Everton’s midfield. Played a poor pass to Martinelli in a promising position, flicked his shot over the crossbar, then played a sloppy pass that allowed Everton to get forward. Reuters -
Bukayo Saka - 6, Had a few bright moments but Mykolenko did a great job of dealing with the winger, and he was unlucky to see his well-hit volley cleared off the line by Coady. Snatched at his shot under pressure from McNeil. AFP -
Eddie Nketiah - 5, Didn’t see a lot of the ball but couldn’t control Odegaard’s pass in a promising position and hit a wild shot from his big opportunity. Had another shot blocked by Tarkowski and was unlucky Odegaard didn’t do better with his shot after teeing up the Norwegian. Reuters -
Gabriel Martinelli - 4, Was dealt with effectively by Coleman twice in the early stages, which set the tone as the Brazilian was anonymous for most of his time on the pitch. Getty -
SUBS: Jorginho (Partey, 59’) - 5, Took up good positions and moved the ball well but lost it in a dangerous position for Maupay’s chance. Reuters -
Leandro Trossard (Martinelli, 59’) - 5, Offered Coleman more of a challenge than Martinelli but his corners were poor. Hit a decent shot that Pickford saved well, then sent another attempt high and wide. AFP -
Fabio Vieira (Odegaard, 77’) – N/R, Saw his attempted cross blocked after he had floated into a promising position. AFP -
Takehiro Tomiyasu (White, 85’) – N/R, Showed composure on the ball in both attacking and defensive situations. Getty
The Merseyside club fell back into the bottom three after a 2-0 home defeat by Aston Villa at the weekend and they face leaders Arsenal away on Wednesday.
Dyche's first game in charge of the club after replacing Frank Lampard was a surprise 1-0 win over Arsenal at Goodison Park earlier this month thanks to a James Tarkowski goal.
But Everton have not won on the road in the league since October 1 and Dyche knows that relying on their home form alone will be a risky strategy for survival.
“Most teams have stronger home forms for all kinds of scientific reasons but it's about the consistency of performances home and away,” said the former Burnley manager.
“We want our players to have a strong jaw and an edge to their play away from home.”
Dyche's biggest puzzle will be trying to coax more goals out of a team that has managed only 17 all season in the league – the worst return in the top flight.
Their leading scorer in the league this season is Demarai Gray with three, while Anthony Gordon also scored three before being sold to Newcastle United in January. Main striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains injured.
“That's the challenge,” Dyche said. “The players know we have not been scoring freely but we have got to adapt and ask questions of the opposition.
“We have shown good signs through the way the team is trying to create the energy, the desire and the numbers getting into the box. It has to lead to something.”
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Everton's James Tarkowski celebrates with Conor Coady and Seamus Coleman after scoring the only goal in the 1-0 Premier League win against Arsenal at Goodison Park on February 4, 2023. Reuters -
James Tarkowski celebrates after scoring. Getty -
Abdoulaye Doucoure after Tarkowski's goal. Getty -
James Tarkowski celebrates with Dwight McNeil. Getty -
Everton's James Tarkowski celebrates scoring the winning goal. PA -
Everton manager Sean Dyche shouts instructions during his first game in charge. EPA -
Arsenal's new signing Jorginho made his debut. AFP -
Everton manager Sean Dyche and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on the sideline. Reuters -
Amadou Onana of Everton misses a chance. Getty -
Takehiro Tomiyasu of Arsenal passes while under pressure from Neal Maupay. Getty -
Everton fans stage a protest against the club board before the match. EPA -
Everton fans stage a protest against the club board. EPA -
A plane flies over the stadium displaying a message in protest against the Everton owner and board. Reuters -
Everton fans protest against the board of directors and owners. AP -
Everton fans protest. AFP -
Everton fans protest against the club's board. AFP -
Everton fans protest against Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, chairman Bill Kenwright and chief executive officer Denise Barrett-Baxendale outside the stadium. Action Images
