Everton 1-4 Arsenal

GOAL!! (Rosicky 90 mins (+3)

90 mins Adebayor is heading for the corner flag as Arsenal look to run out the clock. A tad unnecessary given they're 3-1 up, one might think.

87 mins Fabregas gets himself booked for an impetuous challenge and then Flamini feels the need to have a word with Atkinson and earns himself a booking too - one that will keep him out of Arsenal's next game. Wenger, quite sensibly, recognizes this might be the time to extract Fabregas and promptly sends in Rosicky in his stead.

RED CARD! (Arteta 84 mins) Wow - what on earth happened to that boring first half? Fabregas goes down - pretty lightly it must be said - after Arteta swings his arm across his face as they tussle for the ball, and Atkinson has little hesitation in pulling out another red card. There was a connection between Arteta's elbow and Fabregas' face, but whether it was enough to justify a straight red is questionable. Fabregas really did make a meal of that.

81 mins Lescott rises to meet an Arteta free-kick from the left but he can't keep his header down.

GOAL!! (Adebayor 78 mins) Unbelievable - what has happened to Everton's defence today? Jagielka seems to become disoriented as Adebayor jumps with him for a long ball forward, and fails to keep running as Adebayor chases the loose ball. Yobo, running ahead of Jagielka, could easily have got to the ball and belted it out, but instead stops to admire Adebayor rushing on. Adebayor then jabs the ball off Howard's leg as he rushes out to clear, it rebounds into the area and the striker strolls in to push it into an empty net. Absolutely calamitous defending.

76 mins Lee Carsley drives goal wards from the edge of the area, but he doesn't get enough power behind it and Almunia claims easily enough.

RED CARD! (Bendtner 74 mins) Well I'm not sure about your prediction Harry, as Eduardo's just been substituted for Adebayor after Bendtner received his second yellow for a reckless lunge at Johnson. To be honest that could have been a straight red - Wenger doesn't even look at his striker as he walks off and down the tunnel.

72 mins "Eduardo hat-trick coming up," parps Harry Brondson. "Can this really be the same Jagielka who did so well last season to stop Arsenal scoring against Sheffield United last season - for much of the game as a goalkeeper?"

70 mins Everton are probing - keeping possession inside the Arsenal half without managing to create any clear openings. Johnson finally comes on for Hibbert as Arteta stands over another free-kick on the right, but the cross is just too high for anyone to divert it goal wards.

67 mins Arteta sends a delightful ball swerving and dipping into the Arsenal six-yard box from a free-kick about 25-yards out on the right, but it just eludes the blue shirt attacking the near post and Toure clears first-time with admirable composure. Johnson still isn't on but now Adebayor's stripping out of his training top too.

65 mins Eduardo briefly looks to have got in behind the Everton defense yet again but he used his hand to bring down the ball (again), and this time gets a yellow card for his troubles. Andy Johnson is getting ready to come on Everton.

63 mins Everton win a corner as Gallas slides Pienaar's cross behind. Sagna clears the first ball, but it comes back in again and this time skims off Gallas's head for another corner. This one is over hit, but still gets worked back in to Cahill, who attempts a rather ambitious overhead kick but fails to connect with the ball.

61 mins Eduardo takes a break to get some treatment after taking a boot in the chest as he tried to win a bouncing ball just inside the Everton half.

GOAL!! (Eduardo 58 mins) What was I saying about a fox in the box? Eduardo actually looked to handle the ball as he took possession on the edge of the box, but what happened next was pure poachers' class from the Croatian, as he flicked the ball past Jagielka with an outstretched left boot, moved round the defender and slid the ball past Howard.

55 mins Yakubu pulls one wide for Everton from the edge of the box but I didn't really catch it as I was busy reattaching the power cord to my monitor after hoofing it out under my desk.

52 mins "How do teams win titles," poses a rhetorical George Templeton. "After falling behind and playing a terrible half of football, a team like Arsenal come of out of the locker room and tie the match in 90 seconds. Pay attention Liverpool, you might learn something." To be fair George, it might be worth waiting until Arsenal win another title before raising that particular red flag, but I would agree with you that Wenger has introduced a resilience and ruthlessness at Arsenal that has been missing in previous seasons. For the record Eduardo hadn't had a touch in the box before that goal - has Wenger finally found his fox in the box?

50 mins Alex Hleb almost gets Arsenal into trouble as he holds on to possession a bit too long in Arsenal's area following an Everton corner. Adebayor has started warming up down on the touchline for Arsenal.

GOAL!! (Eduardo 47 mins) Unbelievable - a goal as far from the typical Arsenal fare as you can imagine. Clichy pumps a 60-yard ball up in the direction of Everton's penalty area, Phil Jagielka completely misjudges it and Eduardo strolls onto it before clipping it past Tim Howard for his first Arsenal goal. Unbelievably careless defending from Everton - it actually took me some time to realize he hadn't been flagged for offside given how nonchalant about it all everybody seemed.

46 mins Here we go again. Much though I'm sure Everton's (and indeed many other team's) fans are quite enjoying this already, as a spectacle it really can only get better.

And another "I nearly didn't watch this game, as I can't stand to watch quality footballers getting kicked all over the place by players who aren't even in the same ball-park when it comes to skill," parps Matt Dixon. "I mean at this rate Arteta will be black and blue tomorrow." I see what you've done ther Matt.

An email "I know he has been hurt, but what the hell has happened to Cesc Fabregas," wonders George Templeton. "He looks a shadow of the player he was early in the year." Have to agree with you George - Fabregas had a poor game at Portsmouth on Boxing Day and he's been really quite anonymous so far today. I think Arsenal have suffered from not having Hleb in the middle - there's been no link between the midfield and the attack whatsoever, but you would normally expect Fabregas to show a lot more invention and straightforward passion than he has today.

Peepety-peep! Toure has another shot charged down on the edge of the area - from open play this time - and then, under sheets of rain, the players trot off down the tunnel. "An entertaining first half," chirps our Setanta commentator, much to the bemusement of all around me in GU Towers.

45 mins Arsenal win a free-kick about 35 yards out and Toure performs his now trademark routine of running up from 15 yards and crushing the ball straight into the wall. He actually recovers to flick the rebound into a vaguely dangerous area, but nobody is looking lively enough to make anything from it.

43 mins "Toure's eyeball was running out," shrieks Julian Le Saux with reference to my unclear 17th minute entry. "Sorry, I've just logged on and been reading through your commentary from the bottom up." Pah - you know what I meant.

40 mins Arsenal's best move of the game (that's really not saying a lot) comes to an end when Fabregas lays the ball off to Diaby on the left, and he thuds his cross straight into the nearest defender. Everton then break quickly and Yakubu briefly looks to have the beating of Toure, but the defender recovers well to nick the ball and clear. Atkinson is not fooled by a particularly pathetic tumble from Yakubu as he does.

37 mins Nice work by Everton down the right, Pienaar diverting a ball from the right to Hibbert, who helps it on to Neville as he flies in towards the edge of the box. He can't keep his shot down though and it's comfortably high (and also a bit wide) of Almunia's goal.

34 mins Kolo Toure wins a corner for Arsenal after his extremely optimistic effort from 30 yards takes a deflection on its way wide. The corner is swung in onto the head of Eduardo, but his header is off target.

32 mins Sagna swings in a lazy cross from the right that sails way up and above the box without ever threatening to fall into a dangerous area. Arsenal look extremely lethargic, they desperately need someone to take charge and get them going.

29 mins Yobo - yes, Yobo - turns Sagna inside out down the left for Everton before putting in a deep cross that nobody manages to make something of. Then a few moments later the ball falls to Yakubu on the edge of the box and he smacks a low drive a few yards wide of Almunia's left-hand post. Everton are the better side here so far by some way.

27 mins "What's Setanta actually like," wonders Richard Soden, helpfully diverting my attention from the enduring dross that is this football game. Well, it's really not that different to Sky to be honest, except it has a bit more yellow and you get to see three letters of each team's name on the scoreboard rather than two. Oh, and there's 100% less Andy Gray.

25 mins Another corner for Everton and once again badly dealt with by Arsenal. The cross was from the right this time but once again nobody met it as it made its merry way across the box, and Cahill almost manages to hook it back in from far edge of the six yard box. In the end, however, Hleb clears for Arsenal.

22 mins Bendtner earns himself a booking giving Yobo a bit of a barge as the defender shepherded the ball off for a goal-kick. He's put in a couple of 'feisty' challenges already and I suspect this was probably just one too many for referee Martin Atkinson.

GOAL!! (Cahill 19 mins) And with the game's first attempt on target, Everton have the lead. A corner was sent in from the left, everyone in the box missed it, Bendtner very generously volleyed it gently up in the air at the back post to give Everton a second bite and Cahill jabbed it home. There's some dispute over whether it was actually Yakubu who got the final touch - his head was certainly very near it when Cahill connected with it, but I'm going to stick with Cahill.

17 mins Curious incident in the follow-up to that last move by Everton - Kolo Toure went down holding his eye as the ball was running out, but there was nobody anyone near him. Setanta's commentators thought he might have been hit by something from the crowd, but nothing if he was then there's nothing obvious on the replay.

15 mins Finally a glimmer of life in this game, and it's Everton who provide it - Cahill and Pienaar trading passes as they worked their way down the left wing, but Cahill's last ball runs a bit too far and Pienaar can't prevent it from running off for a goal-kick.

13 mins The signs aren't looking good - we're yet to have a shot on goal and I'm yet to have an email from anyone not called George Templeton (1st minute). The Arsenal fans at Goodison Park seem to be enjoying their singsong, mind.

10 mins Manuel Almunia appears to have hurt himself claiming a Phil Neville cross into the box, much to the delight of Jens Lehmann who has already taken his practice top off and started to warm up. Sadly for Jens, after a dab of Gary Lewin's magic sponge, Almunia is back on his feet and good as new.

7 mins Yakubu takes the ball from Cahill on the edge of the area with his back to goal, but attempts to slip the ball into the path of a non-existent team-mate running into the box when when Cahill was hoping for a return ball.

5 mins Eduardo slides in a touch recklessly on Hibbert (I think), and gets a boot in the face for his troubles. It's not been what you'd call an electric start.

3 mins First impression is that it probably is a 4-4-2 after all for Arsenal, with Hleb moved out to the right wing and Diaby on the left. Diaby jabs a ball in the direction of Eduardo pushing into the area but it gets trapped under his feet and he's dispossessed.

1 min And Bendtner gets us away with a little nudge to Eduardo. "When did London become the goal-scoring centre of England," demands George Templeton. "A 4-4 at Stamford Bridge, a 6-4 game at White Hart Lane and to top it off, your average come from behind win for West Ham over Manchester United. I guess the capital is the place to be." Yup, but we're on Merseyside. Sorry.

News of the team sheet variety: Phil Neville has passed a late fitness test for Everton, while Arsene Wenger has taken a very interesting step by dropping Emmanuel Adebayor and naming Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner up front. He has also plumped for Most Overrated Player 2007 Abou Diaby in midfield. I'm assuming this is a 4-4-2, but don't be surprised if it turns out to be more of a 4-3-2-1 with Diaby and Eduardo sitting slightly deeper behind Bendtner.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Arteta, Carsley, Neville, Pienaar, Cahill, Yakubu. Subs: Wessels, Johnson, Vaughan, Nuno Valente, Anichebe.Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini, Diaby, Bendtner, Eduardo. Subs: Lehmann, Senderos, Rosicky, Diarra, Adebayor.Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)

Fun with facts Arsenal have taken 61 points off Everton since the Premier League came into being - more than they have against any other team. (Reader advisory: statistic has minimal relevance to today's fixture)

Preamble: Hello, and welcome to the most televised (in England, anyway) of today's Premier League games. One that's been set up really rather neatly, I might add, by Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at West Ham just now. Arsenal now know that a win would ensure they end 2007 on top of the English football tree.

Of course, this game was always likely to be among today's most intriguing, with an Arsenal side who haven't quite been hitting their early-season heights of late taking on an Everton team playing as well as they have under David Moyes. The Toffees were desperately unlucky not to get anything from their trip to Old Trafford last week and they've won four in a row at home. When Arsenal last visited Goodison Park - in March - Andy Johnson snatched all three points for Everton in second-half injury time, and I have a hunch today's game could well go the same way.