Marco Silva can kickstart Everton reign by defying history at Arsenal

The last time Everton won at Arsenal the manager in the home dugout was Bruce Rioch, Newcastle were runaway league leaders and Kevin Keegan was still a couple of months away from his famous “I’d love it” outburst.

Attempting to break the 22-year hoodoo on Sunday is Marco Silva, the fourth Everton manager to take up the challenge in the last four seasons, and at least the Portuguese can say he has first-hand experience of finishing in front at the Emirates.

Three years ago Silva was in charge of the Olympiakos side that won 3-2 in the Champions League, just one of the results that ramped up the pressure on Arsène Wenger for his bewildering team selections. The Everton manager smiled when reminded of the achievement this week and, though he dismissed it as just a pleasant memory, none of his immediate predecessors have reason to look back with any degree of fondness on what has become an eventful annual ordeal.

Sam Allardyce was the last to try, ending up on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline earlier this year and describing Everton’s performance as “pathetic and unacceptable”. The players had not followed his instructions, he explained, before revealing that he had asked them to model themselves on Swansea. Carlos Carvalhal’s side had just managed a surprise 3-1 win against the Gunners at the Liberty Stadium, but were still relegated at the end of the season. Allardyce’s chances of making the Everton job permanent were probably vanishing as early as February.

Before that Ronald Koeman’s only attempt came on the last day of the 2016-17 season, with Everton already tailing off badly after securing Europa League qualification and failing to improve in a 3-1 defeat. The game was notable for Romelu Lukaku’s last appearance in an Everton shirt and for Koeman’s decision to drop contract rebel Ross Barkley from the starting lineup. With a gruff manager in firm control Everton still felt their prospects were rosy as they headed for the beach, only to fail to replace Lukaku and his goals over summer and suffer the consequences early in the next season.

Set against those two results the 2-1 defeat on Roberto Martínez’s watch in 2015-16 does not look too bad, aside from the manager complaining his side had shot themselves in the foot with poor defending – a charge familiar enough to Everton fans by that stage – and Gareth Barry managing to get sent off in the final minute.

Expectations are therefore quite low as Silva heads for north London, even with Richarlison back in the side after suspension. Perhaps the manager prefers it that way – he memorably overcame scepticism bordering on hostility when handed the all but impossible task of keeping Hull in the Premier League two seasons ago, though in the end he could not quite do enough to avoid relegation.

Similarly, although the win with Olympiakos at the Emirates helped get him noticed, the return fixture in Piraeus at the end of the Champions League group stage was a completely different affair. Arsenal needed to win to qualify and went through with a convincing 3-0 victory, leaving the Greek side to fall into the Europa League where they were beaten in the first knockout round by Anderlecht.

Even though Olympiakos finished that season as Greek champions, Silva left in the summer, halfway through a two-year contract, with no other club to join. He was hailed at Everton as the antidote to Allardyce, though his short stints at Hull and Watford suggest a similar disinclination to outstay his welcome.

To correct that impression he needs to make the most of his chance at Goodison, however costly his acquisition may ultimately prove. Supporters were underwhelmed, to put it mildly, by the last two home performances, a tame draw against Huddersfield then a defeat that lifted West Ham off the bottom.

To an extent Silva has been unlucky – “We still have good players out injured and we have had to play almost two games with 10 men” – but a single win in five games is not quite the lift-off Everton were anticipating. “Arsenal are a strong side so we must play at our best level,” Silva said. Leaving aside the consideration that that ought to be a minimum requirement whoever the opponent, Everton fans are still waiting to see what their team’s best level might be. If it can produce a result at Arsenal – any kind of result really – against another group of players under new management, Silva will have announced his arrival in the most meaningful way.