Preview: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
England Premier League.
Date: Sunday, 1st January 2017.
Kick-off at 16:00 UK.
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.

Arsenal and Crystal Palace locks horns in the New Year 2014 in an electrifying London derby as two teams look for 3 points for two different reasons.

The Gunners fought hard against West Brom and finally managed to earn crucial 3 points, thanks to a late strike from Olivier Giroud. Wenger will take this as his team were on two consecutive defeats. Now he will hope that the depleted team can carry the winning mentality into the coming fixtures. Arsenal are fourth in the league table with 37 points.

Sam Allardyce must be kicking himself after seeing his team concede a late goal in the 1-1 stalemate at Watford in his first game as Crystal Palace manager. From a neutral point of view, it was a much improved performance from the Eagles who looked like horses with blinders in the past few games. Crystal Palace are 17th in the standings, just 2 points outside the drop zone.

Arsenal: Team News

There is plenty of injury worries for Arsene Wenger ahead of this fixture, but this is something the Frenchman deals with every season. Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Oxlade Chamberlain, Per Mertesacker and Shkodran Mustafi are the key names in the 10 men injury list.

Arsenal: Predicted Starting Line-up (4-2-3-1)

Cech – Monreal, Koscielny, Gabriel, Bellerin – Xhaka, Coquelin – Sanchez, Ozil, Iwobi – Giroud.

Crystal Palace: Team News

Big Sam is also without 10 players in his team’s trip to North London. Damien Delaney is the latest to join the list after picking up his fifth yellow card during the 1-1 draw against Watford.

Crystal Palace: Predicted Starting Line-up (4-2-3-1)

Hennessey – Ward, Fryers, Dann, Kelly – Flamini, Cabaye – Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend – Benteke.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Head-to-Head Statistics

Crystal Palace scored a late equalizer when the teams met at the Emirates stadium last season. Arsenal were victorious in the previous three home games against the Eagles.

Moreover, Arsenal are unbeaten in 8 Premier League matches against Crystal Palace, with 6 wins and 2 draws.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Prediction

Crystal Palace is going through a face lift under a new boss and it might take some time for them to get into full flow. However, this clash will be a great test of character and potential changes the fans lung for.

On the other hand, Arsenal fought hard in their first home game after 2 consecutive away defeats. They were far from their very best last time, but the gunners will however want to switch on their seamless winning gear as race for the tittle get hotter. Palace haven’t done better at the Emirates since a while, therefore, we can back for an Arsenal win with the game producing a minimum of 3 goals.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Bet Tips

Arsenal to win first-half at 1.72
Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 goals at 2.20 (11/10).