Arsenal will be looking to get their top-four challenge back on track this weekend when they host Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Gunners find themselves eight points adrift of the Champions League places with only 13 matches of the season remaining, and they face an Everton side that picked up their first win of 2018 last time out.
Arsenal
© SilverHubIt is safe to say that January was a rather tumultuous month for Arsenal - as is often the case - and transfer deadline day provided a neat microcosm of their month with elation and disappointment.
Overall the Gunners must be happy with their business, bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the club for a record fee and tying down Mesut Ozil to a new three-and-a-half-year contract to end months of speculation over his future.
Amid the good news was the frustration of selling Olivier Giroud to London and top-four rivals Chelsea, though, and many fans were left scratching their heads at Arsene Wenger's neglect towards bolster his defensive options.
Deadline day certainly helped to take some of the focus off Arsenal's 3-1 defeat at the hands of relegation-threatened Swansea City the night before, a loss which ultimately saw the Londoners fall eight points behind the Champions League places.
Arsenal have now won just three of their last 11 Premier League games since the beginning of December - with two of those coming home and away against Crystal Palace - and you have to go back to November 26 for their most recent victory over top-half opposition.
Aubameyang's arrival and Ozil's new deal will not fully paper over the cracks unless those results significantly improve, but the questions over Arsenal's defensive solidity remain, having failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven league games.
January also saw Arsenal lose their main man in Alexis Sanchez, although Henrikh Mkhitaryan did arrive as part of that swap deal and Wenger will be hoping that the Armenian quickly revives the prolific partnership he enjoyed with Aubameyang during their time together at Borussia Dortmund.
Wenger's side also progressed into the EFL Cup final during January, but February could be an even more defining month for their season with that trip to Wembley, a North London derby and both legs of their Europa League last-32 tie.
Arsenal certainly cannot afford many more slip-ups if they are to return to the Champions League next season, but they will be confident of returning to winning ways this weekend having lost just one of their last 29 matches at the Emirates Stadium, stretching back to March 2017.
Indeed, only Manchester City have picked up more Premier League points in front of their own fans this season, although Arsenal have not won back-to-back league games at the Emirates since November.
Recent Premier League form: WDDLWL
Recent form (all competitions): LDLWWL
Everton
© OffsideArsenal were not the only team to suffer a disappointing spell in January, with Everton losing their opening three matches of the year before being held to a 1-1 draw by struggling West Bromwich Albion.
The Toffees finally returned to winning ways on Wednesday night, though, with Arsenal old boy Theo Walcott continuing his bright start to life at the club by scoring a match-winning brace against Leicester City at Goodison Park.
The win was Everton's first in eight matches across all competitions, and also their first against a team currently above them in the table all season.
More importantly, though, it staves off the looming threat of being dragged into a wide-spanning relegation battle which currently encompasses every team from 10th down.
Everton should be safe with eight points separating them from the bottom three as things stand, and just three more victories will get them to the 40-point mark which should be enough to guarantee survival.
The fact that avoiding relegation rather than challenging for Europe is the main talking point surrounding Everton right now is representative of their disappointing season on the whole, though, with the Toffees as close to bottom-of-the-table West Brom as they are to sixth-placed Arsenal heading into this weekend.
Everton's away form will be a concern to Sam Allardyce ahead of this trip, with the Merseysiders having won just one of their last 20 Premier League matches on the road, including a heavy defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in North London in their most recent one.
Indeed, despite Everton's top-half position, only West Brom and Stoke City have picked up fewer points on their travels this season, with 23 of the Toffees' 31-point haul coming at Goodison Park.
Recent Premier League form: DLLLDW
Recent form (all competitions): LLLLDW
Team News
© OffsideNew signing Aubameyang may have to wait for his Arsenal debut after picking up an illness following his deadline-day move, with the Gabon international set to undergo a late fitness test.
Jack Wilshere has also been suffering from the same sickness bug and is a doubt, while Danny Welbeck is not yet ready to return from a muscle injury.
Long-term absentee Santi Cazorla is the only other player missing through injury, though, and Arsenal fans could see Mkhitaryan make his first start for the club after coming on as a sub against Swansea.
Alexandre Lacazette will also be hoping to start in order to show Wenger that he deserves a continued regular place in the team despite the arrival of Aubameyang.
Walcott will make a swift return to the Emirates Stadium with Everton following his brace last time out, and fellow January arrival Cenk Tosun could return to the side too having been dropped in favour of Oumar Niasse in midweek.
The Toffees were boosted by the return of Seamus Coleman against Leicester after 10 months on the sidelines with a broken leg, although having played the full 90 minutes at Goodison Allardyce may opt to rest him this weekend.
Coleman's return to fitness may feel like a new signing, and Allardyce did also bolster his defensive options on deadline day with the loan of Eliaquim Mangala, who could make his debut this weekend.
Leighton Baines, James McCarthy, Ramiro Funes Mori and Maarten Stekelenburg all remain sidelined through injury.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech; Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal; Ramsey, Xhaka, Wilshere; Ozil, Lacazette, Mkhitaryan
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Kenny, Keane, Mangala, Martina; Gueye, Davies, Walcott, Rooney, Sigurdsson; Tosun
Head To Head
Arsenal have won five of the last six Premier League meetings between these two sides and have only lost two of the last 22 across all competitions, including a 5-2 victory at Goodison Park in the reverse fixture which saw Arsenal become the first team to score 100 Premier League goals against a single opposition and ultimately cost Ronald Koeman his job.
The Toffees have never won at the Emirates Stadium and last picked up victory away to Arsenal more than 22 years ago in January 1996, when Andrei Kanchelskis scored the winning goal in a 2-1 triumph.
The Gunners have won 19 and drawn four of the 23 matches since then, including wins on each of Everton's last four visits to the Emirates.
We say: Arsenal 2-0 Everton
Arsenal have been in poor Premier League form recently, but they are a different beast at home and their deadline-day business should help them to dispel some of the negativity around the club. Everton's away record is also too poor to ignore, so it would be a surprise if the visitors get anything out of this game.
