David Moyes and go way back. The Spaniard was Moyes' captain at Everton and the pair have a long-standing friendship.

Speaking in 2023, said: "It’s more than respect, I think it’s admiration. I loved playing under him. I would have gone through a brick wall for him when he was my manager, as everybody would in that squad.

"[He’s] a really good coach, exceptional at managing the group and dealing with individuals, and he’s a very special person, very trustworthy, and a man who honours his word. He always did it and he’s someone I learnt a lot from."

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The pair will come face-to-face on the touchline once more on Saturday, when travel to Goodison Park for the final time, playing in the lunchtime kick-off.

And Moyes can do his old pal a couple of favours to help not only in the , but also in the too. The first favour is a simple one, well not the act of it - take points off Liverpool on Wednesday night.

The second Merseyside Derby of the season take place at Anfield on Wednesday night, with Arsenal having cut the gap at the top of the to nine points.

Everton beating Liverpool would keep it at nine points with eight games of the season to go, while a draw would extend it to 10 points.

That would give the Gunners a glimmer of hope, heading into the final two months of the campaign that they can at least pressure Liverpool into making a mistake.

With fixtures in Arsenal's favour, in terms of playing before the Reds for the next month, that will only help matters.

The second favour comes with a bit of a catch. made his return from injury on Tuesday night, scoring after coming off the bench for the first time since December.

Saka will want to get up to speed as quickly as possible with the Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid coming next midweek and the week after.

The Englishman will want more game time, but Everton's no-nonsense approach could hinder his chances. Saka is regularly one of the most fouled players in the Premier League and Everton have not been known to stand on ceremony when big players come to town.

Arteta will want to wrap Saka in cotton wool ahead of the huge fixtures with Real Madrid, but Saka needs minutes in his legs before then and Everton is the only possibility now.

Arteta would ideally ask a favour of Moyes to tell his players to lay off the returning Saka. But that is unlikely to happen given Saka is one of Arsenal's most influential players when on the pitch.

Moyes knows if Everton can keep Saka quiet, the Toffees chances of a result improve dramatically, and going easy on an opposition player is not in the Scot's nature.