Everton and Arsenal are two of England's oldest and most storied football clubs, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that they have been facing off against one another for well over a century at this point. The pair first locked horns in a league match all the way back in April 1905 – a game that saw the Toffees emerge as 1-0 victors. Since that game, the sides have met a staggering 221 times.
Football FanCast has everything you need to know as the two teams prepare to meet again in the Premier League.
The league may have just got back underway, but with four games played – and a cup game for Everton – we can start considering form when looking forward to encounters.
It's been much of the same for the Merseysiders so far this season, with their only point so far coming just before the international break when they were able to hold Sheffield United to a draw at Bramall Lane – largely thanks to a brilliant triple save in the dying seconds of the game from Jordan Pickford.
For their part, Arsenal have been somewhat inconsistent in their performances but have still managed to pick up a respectable 10 points out of a possible 12. While they are yet to hit the form they showed early last season, the Gunners' morale should be sky-high as they went into the break with a last-gasp 3-1 win over bitter rivals Manchester United.
Everton vs Arsenal: What's their head-to-head record?
There are only two teams – Manchester United and Liverpool – that Arsenal have played more often than Everton, and in the Toffees' case, they have only played Aston Villa and Liverpool more often than they have faced the Gunners. This fixture truly is one of the all-time greats in English football.
And while there have been periods in which both sides have dominated, and periods in which there was nothing to separate them, it is Arsenal that have ultimately come out of this rivalry the more successful side.
In their 221 games, the North Londoners have emerged victorious on 110 occasions – or 49.7% – almost double Everton's 65 wins.
There have also been 46 ties in this fixture, meaning that the points are shared in 20% of games, or once every five encounters.
Arsenal Wins
110
Draws
46
Everton Wins
65
Everton vs Arsenal: What's their record at Goodison Park?
Despite Arsenal's general dominance in this fixture over the years, more often than not, they come away from Goodison Park either empty-handed or with a single point.
In the 109 times Everton have played host to their southern competitors, they have come away victorious 47 times, compared to Arsenal's 33.
In fact, Goodison has become something of a bogey ground for the Gunners in recent seasons, with their last victory at the ground coming back in October 2017.
Arsenal Wins
33
Draws
29
Everton Wins
47
Everton vs Arsenal: What's their record at Highbury/Emirates Stadium?
While we can comfortably describe Everton as the better side when the two teams meet at Goodison Park, they are anything but when they make their way to North London.
In fact, it isn't really much of a competition when Arsenal are playing host, as they have won 76 of the 111 games played at either Highbury or the Emirates over the years, giving them a win percentage of 68.4%.
The Merseysiders barely win more than they draw in the capital, coming away with all three points on 18 occasions and a single point another 17 times.
Arsenal Wins
76
Draws
17
Everton Wins
18
Everton vs Arsenal: Which team has the most goals?
Well, it probably shouldn't be that surprising to see Arsenal once again win out here after being the more dominant team overall in this rivalry. That said, the discrepancy in goals scored is still probably higher than you might've initially expected it would be.
In the 221 meetings between the sides thus far, the Gunners have scored 369 goals, giving them a seriously impressive ratio of 1.6 goals per game in that time.
Everton, on the other hand, have scored 263 – over 100 fewer than their opponents – giving them a ratio of 1.1 goals per game.
Everton Goals
263
Arsenal Goals
369
Everton vs Arsenal: What happened in last season's fixtures?
Last year's meetings were quite odd in that the games at Goodison and the Emirates were played within four weeks of each other, resulting in victory for the home side on both occasions.
The first game was held in Liverpool and was Sean Dyche's first game in charge of the team, so almost like a Hollywood script, his new team played the then-league leaders off the park that day. Summer signing Amadou Onana, in particular, was phenomenal, seemingly doing the job of two men in the Toffees' midfield.
The game eventually ended 1-0 in favour of the hosts, which was honestly a pretty flattering scoreline for Mikel Arteta's men, given the level of performance put out by the two sides.
That said, the roles were firmly reversed when Dyche's men travelled to North London just 25 days later as the Gunners enacted their revenge and tore the visitors apart.
The game ended 5-1 with five different players getting on the score sheet for the hosts while the on-loan Donny van de Beek scored Everton's only goal.
Everton vs Arsenal: What is Everton's biggest win?
With a history as long as these two have, there are bound to be a plethora of high-scoring games and the odd demolition job in there to boot, and demolish is precisely what Everton did to the Gunners in November 1985 when they smashed their opponents 6-1.
It was a league game at Goodison Park in the old First Division, and Everton were the reigning champions of England at the time, and boy did it show. The goals for the home side came courtesy of a brace from Gary Lineker, a brace from Adrian Heath and goals from Trevor Steven and Graeme Sharp.
The Gunners scored one goal through Charlie Nicholas, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as they left Merseyside well and truly beaten.
Everton vs Arsenal: What is Arsenal's biggest win?
While Everton's biggest win was undoubtedly impressive, Arsenal managed to go one better, beating their northern opponents 7-0 in May 2005.
Despite the game being ultimately meaningless for the Gunners due to Chelsea already clinching the title weeks earlier, they put on a clinic of attacking football to ensure they ended their campaign on a high.
Robin van Persie opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Edu, Denis Bergkamp and Mathieu Flamini got involved in the action.
Everton would only play at Highbury once more after this visit, a closer fought 2-0 defeat.
Everton vs Arsenal: What are the recent results?
Given Arsenal's general advantage in this tie and the club's recent uptick in form under Arteta and Everton's relegation battles, you'd be forgiven for assuming the last five games have been a walk in the park for Arsenal. It could be further from the truth.
Yes, the North Londoners easily dispatched their opponents last time out at the Emirates, but in their previous five games, they have won just two, while Everton have won three.
Even more impressively, the Toffees were able to win away to Arsenal in April 2021 thanks to a Bernd Leno own goal in the 76th minute.
Everton vs Arsenal: When is it?
Everton host Arsenal on Sunday 17th September at 4.30pm British Summer Time. While this is no longer a fixture contested by two European chasing sides, let alone two top-half ones, it's still a game well worth watching and one that will – as it always does – likely throw up some surprises.
Moreover, both teams will go into the match with their own objectives in mind and things to prove. In Arsenal's case, they will want to kick on from their dramatic win over United to show that their new-found form isn't just lucky but a true representation of their level. After failing to do so in his last three attempts, Arteta will also want to finally come away from Goodison with all three points.
For Everton, it's simple: they have to use home advantage to start picking up points as soon as possible to stop them from falling into a third relegation battle in as many years. Not only that but there will be a desire from Dyche and the home support to frustrate the Gunners further and prove that regardless of their overarching form, Goodison is a ground no team should enjoy coming to.
Finally, the new players will be desperate to prove themselves. For Arsenal, it's obviously Kai Havertz, who after four rather poor performances in red and white needs to do something special this weekend to get people off his back. For the home side, new boys Beto and Arnaut Danjuma have already been impressing, so what better way to announce yourselves to English football than scoring against a title-chasing Arsenal side?
It's going to be a brilliant game this weekend; make sure you don't miss it.
