Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Match Preview And Prediction

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Match Preview And Prediction

The Gunners welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates on the 1st of January 2017 and will be hoping to start the New Year off with a win. On paper Wenger’s boys shouldn’t have a problem getting the three points as the Eagles are currently struggling to avoid the relegation zone but with Sam Allardyce having just been appointed as their new manager to replace Alan Pardew, Palace will be a tough nut to crack. Palace will be a re-energised side as their players are playing for their places under new boss Allardyce.

Squad-wise Arsenal are expected to protect some of the recently recovered injured players such as Danny Welbeck and Shkodran Mustafi. Both players seem to be ready having returned to training but are unlikely to feature. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain faces a late fitness test on his hamstring and Theo Walcott is a doubt for the Gunners due to his calf strain so it may present an opportunity for Lucas Perez to start a Premier League match. Perez scored a hat-trick in his last start which was against Basel in the Champions League so the Spaniard could be a good option for Arsene Wenger to utilise to freshen the team up a bit.


On the other side, Crystal Palace will have to play without Damien Delaney who is suspended. James McArthur, Joe Ledley and James Tomkins are not 100% and all 3 face late fitness tests so they might be left out of the game. Loic Remy could return to action depending on who you listen to and Palace could certainly use the option of the Frenchman as their other striker Conor Wickham is a long-term injury absence leaving the goal-scoring responsibilities to Christian Benteke. It is Palace’s defense however which has really let them down this season as results like their 5-4 loss to Swansea demonstrate.

Arsene Wenger was respectful of Palace in his statements ahead of the game as reported by the BBC:

“The level of confidence or the level of urgency always goes a bit up when a new manager comes in, of course. That makes the game more difficult.

“When you look at their squad, it’s a talented squad, because they have potential going forward, they are quick on the break and they are very versatile.”

Even though Palace showed a bit of a fighting spirit against Watford to gain a point in their most recent game, their season record still looks bad. They have lost 7 out of their last 11 games and are only 2 points above the relegation zone in 16th position. When it comes to head to head results, Crystal Palace have only won 1 game against Arsenal in the Premier League and that was way back in 1994 at Highbury. In their 11 most recent Premier League encounters, the Gunners have won 8 games and drawn 3 so Wenger’s side have to go into the New Year’s day match as favourites.

We think the game will be an exciting one but with so much on the line for both teams we feel it will be a tight contest. We expect Arsenal to have enough firepower to take advantage of Crystal Palace’s defensive vulnerabilities and for them to come out on top by a 3-1 scoreline.