The Emirates Stadium is the venue for Monday night’s Premier League clash between Arsenal and Crystal Palace. Both teams are separated by just three points. Can Arsenal continue their resurgence?
After loosing their initial three fixtures in the Premier League, Arsenal look rejuvenated of late. Although they are placed eleventh in the league, Mikel Arteta’s side have produced improved performances in their previous five matches in all competitions. They have three wins, one draw and three losses in their opening seven fixtures and are on a run of form winning all of their previous four matches. Arsenal were held to a goalless draw when visiting Brighton two weeks ago. Mikel Arteta was under a lot of pressure before picking up his first win of the season against Norwich City in Arsenal’s fourth league fixture. Since defeating the Canaries, Arsenal have gone on to beat Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before drawing with in-form Brighton & Hove Albion. Their highlight win was their 3-1 defeat of North-London rivals Tottenham. Arsenal would be looking continue their form when they welcome Palace. Granit Xhaka is set to remain out of this fixture as he is still nursing a knee injury. Gabriel Martinelli is also out. Arteta will prefer to setup in a 4-3-3 formation – with an attacking midfield trio of Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey.
Arsenal’s previous fixture was a difficult one against Brighton away. They were dominated in terms of most of the attacking metrics. Brighton had three times the number of shots as Arsenal and twice the number of shots on target. The Seagulls also held on to the lion’s share of possession. They had a higher xG than their opponents as well.
Arsenal are placed eighth in the league in terms of touches in the penalty box and touches in the penalty box per 90. Although they are getting into the opponent box frequently, they haven’t scored many goals in their previous fixtures. Most of their victories, barring the one against Tottenham, have been narrow 1-0.
Crystal Palace came from behind to earn a point in their previous fixture against Leicester at home before the international break. Both of the Eagles last two clashes ended in a draw. On the other hand, Crystal Palace have won only one of the eight competitive encounters this term, dismantling 3:0 another North-London based team in the name of Tottenham. None of the Eagles last nine games have ended in a win for the away sides. Palace have shown some signs of improvement under Vieira but look set to struggle in north London. The Eagles are winless in previous four meetings against the Gunners, losing 3-1 when they met after three successive draws, while they have only beaten the Gunners once in the last ten at the Emirates. Nathan Ferguson and Eze will remain out for this fixture. Michael Olise could make it to starting eleven after his performance in the game against Leicester.
Palace dominated most of the attacking metrics in the game against Leicester City. Their xG of 2.49 surpassed that of their opponents’ 0.92. They took more shots than Leicester, although their shots on target were less. Wilfred Zaha was in fine-form, he led the dribbles chart and also took the second highest number of shots in the match. Anderson made sixteen passes to the final third.
Palace are placed eighth in terms of successful passes into penalty area and sixth in terms successful passes into penalty area per 90. They have been able to threaten the opponent box quite frequently this season.
Predicted Eleven
Arsenal (4-3-3)- Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Smith Rowe, Partey, Odegaard; Saka, Aubameyang, Pepe.
Crystal Palace (4-3-3) – Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, Milivojevic, McArthur; Ayew, Edouard, Zaha.
Prediction
Palace are yet to get defeated at home in four fixtures, drawing three and winning one, but they have struggled to back up that solidity in the away fixtures. Arsenal are a stronger side going into the game.
