Season › 2015-16 › News Martinez expecting stern Gunners test Lyndon Lloyd , 23 October, 10comments | Jump to most recent Roberto Martinez is under no illusions about the level of opposition Everton will be facing this weekend but he says his players will take stock of last weekend's defeat and respond. The Blues will be looking to bounce back from their worst result of the season so far, a 3-0 home reverse at the hands of Manchester United, in a fixture they haven't won since 1996. The last time an Everton side tasted victory on Arsenal's turf was when Andrei Kanchelskis fired home a typically excellent effort to hand them a 2-1 victory 19 years ago and Martinez's men face a difficult task in preventing that poor run stretching to into a third decade. "[Last Saturday] was a really bad day for us," the Catalan admitted to the media at Finch Farm yesterday. "It was one of those results that you couldn’t see coming. As a team we want to be reach our level that we’ve showed consistently this season and we’re going to have to do it in one of the hardest arenas in the League and [in Arsenal] against some of the hardest opposition. Arsenal will have their tails up on the back of a 3-0 win over Manchester United three weeks ago and a victory over Watford by the same margin last Saturday, not to mention their impressive 2-0 triumph over Bayern Munich in the Champions League this past week. "We know we’re going to [go up against] a team probably in the best moment of confidence and belief but, in the same manner, it’s one of those games where we need to look at ourselves," Martinez continued. "And all we’re looking to do is react to what happened in our performance at the weekend and be as good as we can. While hopeful, the Toffees' boss doesn't expect to catch the Gunners off guard following the highs of their excellent result in Europe, one which they desperately needed in order to keep alive their hopes of progressing past the group stage of the competition. "I wouldn’t say that a team as experienced in those Euro nights as Arsenal are going to suffer a hangover, if you will," he continued. "If anything, when you play two games in week and we only had one game you just hope that that will allow us to be fresh enough to go into the game. "But I don’t expect Arsenal to have any negative effect because they’ve got the experience and the right mentality and they’ve been through this situation many times. "If anything, I think they get an incredible momentum after that victory. They’ve got a big enough squad to bring in fresh legs if they need to and obviously Arsene Wenger is the best at doing that." Finally, when asked about the potential absence of Alexis Sanchez, Martinez quipped that unless his opposite number elects not to replace him and plays with ten men then he didn't see an advantage at all in the Chilean being rested for this weekend. Reader Comments (10) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Anthony Dwyer 1 Posted 23/10/2015 at 09:54:19 This is a tough test for any side in Europe, as proven this week when Arsenal did a job on the mighty Bayern. That said, it may be a decent time for us to play them. We've just taken a kicking at home so an away game may be what is needed.Stonesy and Coleman have got a very tough 90 minutes under there belts. Arsenal have just played their most physically zapping game of the season. The above does not guarantee us a win but here's to hoping we can steal it. Jimmy Salt 2 Posted 23/10/2015 at 11:43:45 Can't help thinking what happened to the "going toe-to-toe, eye-to-eye" speech. I'm not mad, I know it's Arsenal away... but I hope our boss still believes. Michael Polley 3 Posted 23/10/2015 at 11:56:43 Tough game for us. To beat this lot, we need to be very physical, and play direct. Our defence needs to be strong & concentrate for the full 90 mins.I'll settle for a draw. Maybe with some luck, or inspiration, or a little bit of genius from someone, we can get a result!!COYB Tony J Williams 4 Posted 23/10/2015 at 12:18:01 Kick them all over the effing park...They don't like it up them etc etc.I would love to see old mother hen have a right titty lip complaining about the lack of protection from the ref after a comfortable 2-0 win... I have a dream!!!!Nurse! Paul Cherrington 6 Posted 23/10/2015 at 13:19:46 The need to be physical and get into them is exactly what we have a problem with at the minute, sorry. So I'm not expecting too much from this but, as always, fingers crossed for a win. RM's style of play doesn't help us when we have to get stuck in and battle for a result. Philip Yensen 9 Posted 23/10/2015 at 17:03:35 Who tells our players to go out and stand off teams? Who tells our players to pass the the ball side to side then back, then a punt up the field? Who tells our players not to talk to each other during the game? Who tells our players to go out and get stuck in, close teams down, get early passes to our forward (note the singular forward)? There is only one man to change this mess, if he ever makes his mind up how we should play. I don't care who the opponents are, we can beat anyone if... IF our manager has a set of balls. He will then find out who is up for the season's battle and who is hiding behind negative football.Are we going to wait for Sam Allardyce to come and sort us out when he's finished at Sunderland? Jamie Crowley 10 Posted 23/10/2015 at 20:23:57 This actually lines up well for us...We are coming off a very stale (read "shit") performance.They are coming off the "high" of beating Bayern and are on a short week.Should add up to an amazing showing from Everton and a sub-par, short week letdown from the Gunners.Three points, thank you very much. Frank Crewe 11 Posted 23/10/2015 at 20:55:34 We will need a miracle. We lost 3-0 at home to the same Man Utd side that Arsenal beat by the same score No doubt we will line up with our usual two non-scoring DFs that get nose bleeds if they cross the halfway line.If we want to get anywhere one of those D's has to go and another more attack-minded player in his place. but RM won't. It'll be the not-so-dynamic duo of Barry and McCarthy as usual.We may get some joy if we put Lukaku up against Mertesacker. His lack of pace gives Rom an advantage. Mirallas has to play instead of Naismith. We need pace and we have to be direct. No passing back and forth across the park or they'll hit us on the break. Force them back and don't give them an inch. Andy Meighan 12 Posted 23/10/2015 at 21:01:03 Reading between the lines, it sounds like the Catalan has already thrown his hand in as far as this one is concerned... and what a sad state of affairs that is. When are we going to get a manager who plays the 11 on the pitch and not the name or previous results that have gone before? How many times do we have to listen (to quote the previous manager) the "knife to a gunfight" shite before we actually believe? I'm sick of it. West Ham and Olympiakos have won there already this season. So it's hardly a fortress, is it? Seems to me that Everton don't play 11 players on the pitch but the history of what's gone before... Go and attack them, for God's sake! Do you know what? For once, it might actually work... Doug Harris 13 Posted 23/10/2015 at 21:10:09 Realistically, we don't stand a chance... how can a team go from battering Southampton on their own ground... battering the Champions Chelsea at Goodison.. and just peter away to what we have become since??? I would love to think we will get something out of this game... but no, I can't see it... Sorry, but that's it. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads © ToffeeWeb