Andy Johnson discusses Everton’s problems, tips hammering against Arsenal and says it’s a five-horse title race

In the third part of an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes, Andy Johnson discusses the problems at his former team Everton, his prediction for Sunday’s clash with Arsenal, the teams in the title race and playing alongside Mikel Arteta.

Johnson talked about Arsenal duo Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe in part one and his former club Crystal Palace in the second part.

What’s going wrong at Everton?

I can’t even really put my finger on where things have gone wrong at Everton. They’ve been through quite a few managers now and have had a lot of money to spend, but for some reason it just isn’t clicking at the moment.

Goodison Park is a special place for me. I had a good couple of years up there, with some amazing players, working under a really good manager. But every week, you’re looking out for their results and you’re just thinking ‘bloody hell, man, come on!’ It’s historically one of the biggest clubs in the country. I played European football for two years when I was there, so you just look and can’t help but wonder what’s happened.

I hope their performances pick up and I hope they start putting points on the board, because it would be an absolute travesty to see them in the Championship. Fingers crossed for them.

Everton v Arsenal score prediction

First and foremost, I’m an Arsenal fan, so I’m always going to want them to win, even if they’re playing against one of my old teams. Look, of course, if we’re in a position where, say, Palace were playing Arsenal and Palace need a win to stay up, then, yeah, obviously I’d want Palace to win. But I’d love Arsenal to push on this season and try to go one better than they did last year. They went so close, and it would be good to see them win something.

Goodison Park always used to be a really tough place for teams to go to. It was a horrible away day whenever I played against them, and we always made it difficult for teams when I played for them. It was always a big, intimidating stadium but the fans are so close to the pitch. It just seems like they’ve lost that edge of Goodison being a really hard place to go to.

We used to press teams, get in people’s faces and make it really difficult for them to play, but yeah, in recent years it doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s going to be a tough weekend for Everton…I’m going with a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

Five teams can win the title…this is a good time to play Man City

I think a few teams will fancy their chances of winning the league this season. Obviously, Manchester City are favourites because of what happened last year, but I think it’s open for any of those top-five teams. Manchester United could start firing, you can never rule out Liverpool, Tottenham are looking ultra-strong this year and then you’ve got Arsenal.

That’s what I love about football at the moment – anyone can beat anyone. Look, Man City are Man City, and they’ve been one of the best teams in the world for the last three or four seasons, so they’re the ones you’ve got to knock off the top. But it’s certainly not out of the question for someone else to win it.

Man City have won their opening four games, and Arsenal have already dropped points against Fulham, which they’ll be kicking themselves about. But again, it just goes to show that there are no guaranteed three points in the Premier League anymore. Fulham can beat anyone, Brighton can beat anyone, Tottenham can beat anyone.

West Ham can beat Man City this weekend. You know, they’ve started really well. On their day, if they play well, and City don’t get going, they could win that game. Kevin De Bruyne is out, John Stones is out…I know they’ve won their first four, but this is a good time to play Man City. If you look at their most consistent players over the last few years, De Bruyne and Stones are both right up there, so they are huge losses for them. Obviously, you’ve still got to worry about Erling Haaland and the boys out wide, but West Ham have got a great chance of getting something this weekend – in their current form you just never know.

What Mikel Arteta was like at Everton

Mikel is a great guy. We don’t speak anymore. We were really close when I was at Everton which was a close-knit team, but when you leave, everyone goes in their own direction and carve their own pathways. He’s been absolutely fantastic as a player and a manager. He went and learned his trade at Man City under one of the best managers in the world, and ironically he’s now going toe-to-toe with him, week in, week out.

He was a fantastic player, a great person and a great captain. He was really good to have around the training ground. He knew exactly what he wanted from his team-mates and was headstrong. Technically, he was probably one of the best I’ve played with, and I really hope he goes on to be a huge success as a manager.

I’m not surprised at all that he’s stepped into management. You can always see it’s within certain players, that they’re going to carve out a career in management after their playing days, and Mikel was one of them. His knowledge of the game is second to none, and I wish him the best.

I don’t think Lee Carsley can be persuaded to leave England job

I am really pleased for Lee Carsley. He’s a great guy. You know, he’s one of the best you’ll ever come across in the dressing room. He’s an absolute legend and a gentleman. To see what he’s gone and done with the England Under-21s, I’m so pleased for him.

I’m not sure we’ll see him in a Premier League dug-out any time soon, despite being linked with a few jobs. Look, obviously you never know, but I just think he’s in a really good place right now. He’s just won the European Championship with the Under-21s and he’s got a really good set of lads coming through. It’s a really prestigious job to have, so I’m not sure he can be persuaded to leave that. I’m really pleased to see him doing so well.

Mourinho’s diving comments influenced referees when it came to me

Jose Mourinho came out at one point and criticised my style of play to the press after we played against Chelsea at Goodison Park around Christmas time. I can’t remember exactly what he said about me, but I didn’t really think anything of it.

I know David Moyes was really angry with the whole thing, because it was to do with me apparently going down too easily to win penalties, when in reality, it was actually the opposite of that. There were so many dubious penalty decisions that weren’t given for me when I joined Everton. David thought that what Mourinho had said influenced referees and how they looked at me. I think David ended up getting our statistical team to put together some footage of – I think – 10 or 12 blatant penalties which hadn’t been awarded because of – what he felt – Mourinho had said.

David was just trying to justify and clear my name off the back of those comments which, as I say, didn’t bother me at all. But that whole episode probably ended up having more of a negative impact on me when it came to those decisions.