David Moyes has quite a conundrum on his hands heading into Everton's match against Arsenal on Saturday at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Premier League leaders squeaked by Wolves at home this past weekend, after a less-than-inspiring road loss to Aston Villa the week before. The Gunners will head into Saturday's match at Everton two points clear of Manchester City, winners of four straight.
The Toffees will be quite thin in terms of the squad heading into that match. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish both picked up hamstring injuries, and it likely won't be until later in the week when Moyes and his staff will know if either will be available for the clash.
Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye left for AFCON to join the Senegal side, and could be gone until mid-January at the latest. Injuries are never good, but adding KDH and Grealish to the mix of Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman, and Merlin Röhl could not have come at a worse time for Everton.
That leaves James Garner, Tim Iroegbunam, and Charly Alcaraz to cover the midfield, with Dwight McNeil and Tyler Dibling needed to step up on the wings if the injuries to Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall keep them out for Saturday.
That is worrying because Arsenal are not only the second-most prolific goal-scoring side in the Premier League (30, behind City's 38) through 16 matches, they also feature the league's best defense, having allowed just 10 goals in those contests.
Against an Everton side that has managed just 18 goals in the same number of games, which is joint third-worst in the league with 19th place Burnley, this is a bad combination.
This isn't to say that Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall would ensure goals, but they have scored six between them while adding the same number of assists. Ndiaye's six goal contributions are also missing, making the job that much more difficult.
Arsenal coming to Hill Dickinson was always going to be a difficult matchup for Everton, even with the Blues at full strength. Missing that trio of attacking players is likely to mean it will be an ugly evening at Bramley Moore Dock for the home side.
Expect a very defensive showing from the Toffees, something you never like to see from a team playing at home. But given the situation, it might be the only way for Everton to escape without being smashed.