From the AMEX – Brighton moved another point clear of the relegation zone as they played out a disappointing draw with injury-hit Everton on Monday night.

In a tale as old as time, the Seagulls dominated possession and had the better chances, with Lewis Dunk forcing a good save from Robin Olsen in the second half.

Olsen was the busier of the two keepers, making three saves to Robert Sanchez’s one, but the contest ultimately lacked quality with Everton in particular missing striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was ruled out through injury.

Here’s the player ratings from the goalless draw on the south coast.

Robert Sanchez (GK) – 6/10 – Very nearly gifted Richarlison an opening with a heavy touch but just about recovered. Wasn’t worked in the first half but pulled out a regulation stop to deny James Rodriguez.

Ben White (CB) – 6/10 – Galloped forward well on occasion. Another steady performance.

Lewis Dunk (CB) – 6/10 – Always comfortable bringing the ball forward and distributed well. Clattered into Richarlison for a yellow card. Tested Olsen with an opportunistic header.

Joel Veltman (CB) – 6/10 – Cut out a few Everton counters. Has grown in stature as the season has worn on and Monday night was another composed display from the former Ajax man.

Pascal Gross (RWB) – 6/10 – Definitely not your conventional right wing back. The position certainly doesn’t get the best out of Gross and he was quiet throughout.

Adam Lallana (CM) – 5/10 – Could have set Welbeck up but didn’t put enough weight on the pass and the chance went begging. Guilty on a number of occasions of choosing the wrong option.

Yves Bissouma (CM) – 7/10 – An acrobatic overhead kick landed just on top of the goal. Always busy with the ball at his feet, topping the dribble standings alongside Trossard with three, and also made five tackles.

Jakub Moder (LWB) – 6/10 – Caught a volley sweetly early on that went wide after some intricate play. Nearly set up Welbeck but his cross was cleared.

Leandro Trossard (AM) – 6/10 – Buzzed around and looked lively in and around the box. Like Lallana, guilty of overthinking on the counter.

Neal Maupay (ST) – 5/10 – Had a good opening blocked by Mina as the game started to open up. Some lovely moments of link-up in the first half but also set up an Everton counter with a loose ball into the middle of the pitch and turned like a truck when presented with shooting chances later on.

Danny Welbeck (ST) – 5/10 – Pretty anonymous in the opening period. Saw a bit more action in the second period and got some shots away but none particularly troubled Olsen.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh – N/A

Dan Burn – N/A

Robin Olson (GK) – 6/10 – Like Sanchez, didn’t have a shot to save in the first 45 minutes. Did excellently to tip Dunk’s flicked header over the bar.

Ben Godfrey (CB) – 7/10 – Probably Everton’s standout defender. Made one superb block and was assertive all night long in the tackle.

Yerry Mina (CB) – 6/10 – An important block denied Maupay from close range. Pretty solid all in all before an injury ended his outing before the hour mark.

Michael Keane (CB) – 6/10 – Marshalled his defence well, especially once Mina was withdrawn. Booked for a reducer on Lallana.

Seamus Coleman (RWB) – 6/10 – The Everton captain was extremely vocal throughout and got forward well down the right. Great block to deny Lallana. Was guilty of losing possession too easily at times, mind.

Mason Holgate (CM) – 7/10 – Moved into midfield, where he has played before though it’s obviously not his natural position. Some of his passing was brilliant, including one raking crossfield pass to pick out Coleman. Important header to deny Welbeck, too.

Gylfi Sigurdsson (CM) – 5/10 – Neat and tidy in possession but delivered no cutting edge when Everton got forward.

Tom Davies (CM) – 5/10 – Messed up the first big opening of the game, heading wide when unmarked from Coleman’s delivery. Sent one shot blazing over before he was substituted.

Lucas Digne (LWB) – 6/10 – A pretty reserved outing from the Frenchman. On course to beat his best assist tally in England with two needed to beat his haul of seven in 2019/20, but he had little opportunity to create anything here.

James Rodriguez (SS) – 5/10 – Sent a free kick sailing over Sanchez’s goal early on. His quality might have been the difference between the sides on another day but it wasn’t to be.

Richarlison (ST) – 5/10 – Led the line in Calvert-Lewin’s absence. Had just 15 touches in the first half – only goalkeeper Olsen and Welbeck (both 14) registered fewer. Similarly quiet in the second.

Alex Iwobi – 5/10 – Great chance to win it late on but sent his effort well wide.

Nathan Broadhead – N/A

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Kieran Tierney will likely miss the rest of the season with injury.

Tierney was forced off partway through the Gunners’ 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the beginning of April. Earlier this week the club revealed that the Scot has suffered a knee injury which would rule him out for between four and six weeks.

However, Arteta provided new information on Sunday following Arsenal’s comfortable victory at Sheffield United, suggesting that Tierney’s will not be involved again before the end of the current campaign. “Kieran is out, probably for the season,” he said (via Goal).

The news is a significant blow for the Gunners as they enter the home stretch of the Premier League season. It leaves them short at left-back, with Granit Xhaka forced to fill in during their meeting with the Blades. Scotland will also be concerned by the news of Tierney’s injury as the defender is one of Steve Clarke’s most high-profile players.

Despite fielding a misshapen team, Arsenal still breezed to a much needed 3-0 win over their stricken hosts. Alexandre Lacazette bagged a brace at Bramall Lane – the first the result of a fine team move – while Gabriel Martinelli grabbed his first goal since returning from a serious injury.

“We had a really strong performance. The clean sheet was needed and we were very composed with the ball. Overall I’m very happy,” Arteta added.

The Spaniard was also full of praise for his side’s first goal in which Bukayo Saka and Dani Ceballos combined intricately on the edge of the box before Lacazette applied the finish.

“It was a typical Arsenal goal, really high quality. He [Laca] is playing really well at the moment,” he beamed.

Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal career has hardly been stellar since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium in 2016.

In many ways, the Switzerland international probably owes the fact he’s still at the club to the pure lack of options available to Mikel Arteta and his predecessors.

Let’s be honest, getting substituted and throwing the captain’s armband on the floor in disgust in front of your own fans is a pretty hard thing to come back from at most clubs.

Regardless of the reason why he’s still in north London, he’s been afforded more than his fair share of opportunities to work his way back into the good books of the Arsenal fans, yet so far he’s only managed to make himself an even bigger villain.

His back catalogue of calamitous errors which have led to goals is a sight to behold, with his blunder at Burnley a few weeks ago possibly the worst of the lot.

The 28-year-old was restored to Arteta’s starting XI for their clash with Slavia Prague in the Europa League on Thursday night, for what now looks like the club’s only realistic chance of securing Champions League football for next season.

While it may not have been a brilliant technical display from him – as there was obviously a whole host of fouls committed in the centre of the field – his attitude and drive on the night looked far removed from the player we’ve seen throwing his arms in the air and sulking so often in the past.

In a drab affair, the Swiss midfielder was the only player in an Arsenal shirt who showed any kind of willingness to press the visitors and try to force a mistake.

Often the Arsenal front three of Willian, Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka would be completely immobile as the Slavia backline comfortably passed the ball between themselves, yet Xhaka was the one sprinting 30 yards to hurry them and trying to force the issue.

With 15 minutes of the game to play, Arteta rolled the dice and went in search of a crucial goal to swing the balance of the tie in Arsenal’s favour.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli were all introduced, and they made an instant impact as Pepe handed Arsenal the lead, but without the Xhaka there would have been no opening goal.

The midfielder picked up the ball just outside his own box and had the composure to take a touch and look up rather than hooking the ball aimlessly clear with Slavia players beginning to surround him. His perfectly-weighted ball over the top picked out Aubameyang and he in turn laid it on a plate for Pepe.

Xhaka isn’t suddenly a midfield genius by any means; there is ability in those moody boots, but so far his attitude seems to have been the biggest flaw in his game.

His performance against Slavia couldn’t have been more different to the Xhaka we’ve come to know over the past five years, and he was rewarded with a starring role in the build-up to the Arsenal opener.

While the night may have ultimately ended in disappointment for Arteta as the Gunners surrendered their lead with almost the last kick of the game, he can be pleased with the performance of his much-maligned midfielder. Xhaka continues to show the fight he did on Thursday night, he could soon work his way back into favour with the Arsenal fans.