Arsenal, bidding to win their first league title in 20 years, have named their starting lineup for the fateful final.
Mikel Arteta’s side will face Everton in the 38th and final round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) season at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, on Tuesday at 0:00 a.m. ET. Arsenal are currently second in the league with 86 points, while Everton are 15th with 40 points.
The starting lineup has been revealed ahead of the game.
Arsenal will start David Luiz in goal. Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Takehiro Tomiyasu will form the defense. Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, and Martin Ødegaard will line up in the midfield. Up front, Leandro Trosar, Gabriel Martinelli, and Kai Havertz will line up.
Jordan Pickford will wear the goalkeeping gloves for Everton. Seamus Coleman, James Tarkowski, Jared Branswaite, and Ashley Young make up the defense. Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana, Abdoulaye Doucoure, James Garner, and Dwight McNeill make up the midfield. Up front, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will start.
This is the game that will decide the PL winner for the 2023-24 season. Of course, Arsenal can’t decide everything, and they’ll need to win against Everton and then hope for a draw or loss in the match between title rivals Manchester City and West Ham United at the same time.
Currently, league leaders City have 88 points and Arsenal have 86, with a goal difference of two points. If City wins against West Ham, Arsenal will fail to win the title because even if Arsenal accumulates three points, the gap between the two teams will remain at two points.
If City draws with West Ham and only earns one point, Arsenal has a chance. If Arsenal picks up three points, they’ll be tied on points with City, and the Gunners will move to the top of the league due to their superior goal difference. This would be the most thrilling title scenario for Arsenal.
Of course, even if City loses, Arsenal still needs to win against Everton to win the title. If City loses and Arsenal wins, Arsenal will take over the lead by one point and finish the season as the league’s top team and lift the trophy.
The Gunners will be feeling sorry for Tottenham Hotspur, who lost the previous round’s match between Tottenham and City. The Gunners 토토 conceded back-to-back goals to City’s striker Elling Holland in a 0-2 defeat at home at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The result of the match also had implications for Arsenal’s title race. If Tottenham had won or drawn against City, Arsenal could have moved ahead in the title race. It could have been the key to turning the tide in the title race at the end of the season. However, Tottenham conceded two goals and Arsenal found themselves in a difficult position.
Arsenal’s disappointment is compounded by the fact that Spurs could have changed the outcome of the game. Tottenham broke the deadlock in the 41st minute when Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-min put pressure on the City center back duo, forcing Manuel Akanji to miscue a pass, allowing Son to pounce on the ball and create a one-on-one situation.
Heung-min Son was one-on-one with goalkeeper Stephan Ortega, looking to the keeper’s right, but Son’s shot was saved by Ortega. It was a missed opportunity for Tottenham. Spurs were unable to stop City’s momentum after Son’s missed chance and conceded another goal to Holland.
After the game, Arsenal fans criticized Son Heung-min. Before the game, Arsenal fans were hoping that Tottenham, and Son in particular, would step up and hold off City, as the Gunners had been particularly strong against them at home. However, Arsenal fans were furious when the trusted Son missed a crucial chance that led to the loss.
Unlike the Arsenal fans, Arteta remained calm.
“If I had to choose a player in the PL who had to solve a chance in that moment, I would have chosen him,” Arteta said in the press conference ahead of the Everton game, when asked if he was disappointed that Son missed a one-on-one chance in the second half. When he missed the chance, me and my family were running around with our heads in our hands. Who would have thought (he would miss the chance),” he said.
“Michael Jordan made a lot of game-winning shots in the NBA, but even he didn’t always make them, and who can blame him, because that’s the beauty of sports,” Arteta said, using the legendary basketball player as an example to explain that it’s not unusual to miss opportunities.
What’s done is done. The Gunners now have to take the win on their own terms and pray that West Ham can get at least a draw against City.
If Arsenal win the title this season, it will be their first PL title in 20 years, since the 2003-04 season. At the time, the Gunners went unbeaten in PL history under former manager Arsène Wenger, but they didn’t win the title for another two decades.