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Match preview
With Manchester City not in action this weekend, can Arsenal pull eight points clear ahead of the international break?
Last Sunday, the Gunners demolished Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage, with Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard all on target in the first half.
That means Mikel Arteta’s team have won all five fixtures since that defeat to Man City, restoring their five-point cushion at the top.
Since then, Arsenal’s Europa League hopes have come to an end, dumped out by Sporting CP in dramatic fashion on Thursday.
It ended 1-1 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate, meaning extra time and ultimately penalties were required at the Emirates.
Martinelli saw a tame effort saved so, as the Portuguese club converted all five of their spot-kicks, the Gunners crashed out.
Will Arsenal suffer from a Europa League hangover, or can they make it six successive Premier League wins, last achieving that in October 2018?
As for Crystal Palace, they sacked Patrick Vieira on Friday, which was ironic given that it was St Patrick’s Day.
This decision was somewhat surprising although, given that the Eagles are winless in ten, dating back to New Years’ Eve, it probably shouldn’t have been.
Following Wednesday night’s 1-0 defeat at Brighton, Palace now haven’t scored a goal in over 381 minutes of football.
During this period, they failed to muster a shot on target in three successive outings, the first time any team had done this since Premier League records began in 2003.
Amazingly, Palace were 12th when they last won and they’re still 12th, albeit now they are just three points clear of danger.
The Eagles have only ever won three of 26 trips to Arsenal, these victories coming in 1970, 1994 and 2019, but their last three clashes at the Emirates have all resulted in draws.
Under interim boss Paddy McCarthy, can the away side derail Arsenal’s title push?
Arsenal team news
Mikel Arteta named a very strong line-up for the Sporting match, which isn’t ideal given that the game went to extra time.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba both hobbled off in the first half, with the pair set for a few weeks on the sidelined at least.
So, Rob Holding will start a Premier League game for the first time since the final day of last season.
Benjamin White, Thomas Partey, Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka will all return to the XI from mid-week.
Fit against Gabriel Jesus enjoyed a 12 minute cameo at Craven Cottage before, starting and getting 45 minutes in the legs on Thursday.
If Jesus is available again, Leandro Trossard, who posted a hat-trick of assists last Sunday, could come in for Gabriel Martinelli on the left.
Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka, Ødegaard; Saka, Trossard, Jesus.
Crystal Palace team news
It’ll be interesting to see how many changes Paddy McCarthy makes, having only had two days to prepare for this one.
Palace are currently enduring an injury crisis in goal, with both Vicente Guaita and Sam Johnstone out injured.
So Joe Whitworth made his senior debut against Brighton, becoming the fifth-youngest goalkeeper to ever feature in the Premier League, at the age of 19 years and 16 days.
One change will come in midfield as Albert Sambi Lokonga is ineligible to face his parent club.
Naouirou Ahamada and/or Luka Milivojević will come in with Will Hughes out injured.
Sambi’s usual partner Cheick Doucouré is one yellow card away from missing two matches suspended; he was actually very lucky not to be sent off on Wednesday.
Wilfried Zaha scored in Palace’s last win at the Emirates, so can he repeat that trick here?
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Whitworth; Clyne, Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell; Milivojević, Doucouré, Ahamada; Schlupp, Ayew, Zaha.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Head to head statistics
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Premier League table
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