The Sun News On-line

Much is at stake today when Arsenal welcome Everton at the Emirates Stadium for a top-of-the-bill Premiership clash.
Mathematically, Arsenal can still lift the title, but they need to claim six points from their two remaining games, starting with today’s tie and then, rely on the unlikely hope of both Manchester United and Chelsea losing theirs.

David Moyes' men have not been outside the European qualifying places since early December and will certainly fight tooth and nail to secure the needed points to fire them into the UEFA Cup.

One player who is ready to shed gallons of sweat to ensure that Everton actualise their ambition of snatching the maximum points at the Emirates to brighten their chances of grabbing a continental ticket, is Super Eagles’ burly forward, Yakubu Aiyegbeni.

Aiyegbeni might have had a horrendous campaign with the Nigerian national team at the Ghana 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana, but his performance this season has elicited a lot of accolades from Everton fans.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian international has netted just once in the last 10 games, leaving him tantalizingly one goal short of becoming the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley in 1991/92 to score 20 goals in a season.
However, Yakubu is confident he would re-discover his scoring boots starting with today’s crucial encounter against Arsenal. He has equally hailed the role his compatriot, Joseph Yobo and the rest of the Everton defence has played in maintaining the side's top-five status during the barren run for the strikers.

The form of the defence has been pivotal, with Everton racking an impressive haul of 20 clean sheets in all competitions this term - with 14 in the Premier League.
Yobo and fellow defensive stalwart, Phil Neville scored the two goals for the Toffees as they played 2–2 draw against Aston Villa last Sunday.

"The back four this season has been doing a great job and so is the midfield. Everybody in the team is doing a fantastic job. We the strikers have not scored in the last four or five games, but we have to just keep doing the job, thanks to the defenders for scoring our goals.

"When Yobo scored on Sunday, we thought it was over and we were so happy for him because it was his first goal in the season. He has been doing so well for the team, so it was good he scored.
"I still believe that before the end of the season, we the strikers can score goals in the last two games. We (strikers) are under pressure when we don’t score, but I am used to such pressures. Mine is to keep working and I still believe that I can score goals this season. For me, I still believe I will hit my 20 goals target."

On the other hand, Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, believes his side were "one game away" from being champions this season, but remains upbeat that victory against Everton may still give the Gunners a mathematical hope of clinching the Premiership title.

Arsenal topped the table for six months of the campaign, but a controversial last minute Birmingham penalty in their 2–2 draw late February was followed by a miserable match which saw them surrender a healthy lead at the summit, dropping nine points out of a possible 15.

In spite of that, the Frenchman insisted that his side would still have won their first Barclays Premier League title in four years had they held on to their lead against leaders, Man United in April.
Wenger said: "I feel we were one game away in this championship. If we had won at Old Trafford, we would have become the champions."