"Everton" draws with "Arsenal" and brings "Liverpool" closer to winning the league.

After losing to Everton in the Merseyside derby 0-1 four days ago, Everton did a favor to their fierce rival Liverpool, the league leader, by forcing Arsenal, the second-placed team, to settle for a 1-1 draw on Saturday in the thirty-first round of the English Premier League. This draw, coming before a tough test on Tuesday against "Real Madrid" in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, deals a severe blow to Arsenal's weak hopes of winning the title for the first time since 2004 under the days of the French coach Arsène Wenger, especially if Liverpool wins against Fulham on Sunday. A win for Dutch coach Arné Slot's team would widen the gap between them and Arsenal to 14 points with seven rounds remaining in the season, greatly enhancing their chances of winning only their second title since 1990. After making his comeback in the previous round against Fulham (2-1) following a three-month absence due to a severe muscle tear in his thigh that required surgery, Bukayo Saka scored the opening goal to make it 2-0 after coming off the bench on Saturday. Saka started the match on the bench, similar to the other star, Norwegian Martin Odegaard, before both entered in the second half. The match against Fulham was costly for Arsenal, as their Brazilian defender Gabriel will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered less than a quarter of an hour into the game. Facing the team he played for between 2004 and 2012 and worked under his current Scottish coach David Moyes, who returned to the Toffees in January instead of Sean Dyche, in 209 matches in all competitions, Spanish coach Mikel Arteta made five changes to Arsenal's lineup that won against Fulham, considering what awaits them next week against Real Madrid. Despite only achieving one victory in the last eight matches, with four consecutive draws and six in total, Everton is largely securing their stay in the Premier League as they are 15 points ahead of the eighteenth-placed team. However, Moyes' team must be cautious in the coming weeks, as they are set to face Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, the title holders, and Chelsea in the next three rounds, followed by Ipswich Town, currently in eighteenth place. Arsenal dominated possession early in the game but without posing a real threat to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford until Belgian Leandro Trossard scored the opening goal after a counter-attack and a pass from Raheem Sterling (34). Arsenal tried hard to regain their lead but faced the resilience of the home side's defense, who played their last match against Arsenal at Goodison Park since they will move to a new stadium next season, with the match ending in their eleventh draw of the season.