Arsenal face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday
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Arsenal are clear favourites to win the Premier League title after ending last weekend with a three-point lead over Manchester City and a five-point advantage over champions Liverpool.
It’s now six straight wins in all competitions for the Gunners after they blasted Atletico Madrid away with four goals in 14 minutes in the second half of Tuesday’s Champions League clash at the Emirates.
That 4-0 triumph also saw Arsenal register yet another clean sheet, and they’ve yet to concede a goal in their three Champions League starts this term.
Right now, they look incredibly strong on both domestic and European fronts, and their next two Premier League matches are away games at promoted pair Burnley and Sunderland, so there is scope to stretch their lead at the top of the EPL.
But Crystal Palace must represent one of their toughest tests so far.
The Eagles have been defeated in just one of their opening eight league matches and must wonder how on earth they did actually lose to Everton after dominating much of that match on Merseyside.
But there was genuine disappointment for Eagles fans on Thursday night as they were stunned 1-0 at home in their Conference League tie against AEK Larnaca.
Being competitive at home and in Europe is still a balancing act for Palace, and so far this season, after Conference League matches, they’ve won one, lost one, and drawn one.
How to watch Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace kicks off at 14:00 GMT on Sunday, October 26 at the Emirates Stadium.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting from 7pm.
BBC Radio 5 will provide full match commentary.
Arsenal team news
The Gunners are again without the injured Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, and Kai Havertz, although the latter is nearing a return.
After a mini-shuffle in midweek, Mikel Arteta is likely to return to the side that edged out Fulham 1-0 in Arsenal’s last Premier League start.
That means Riccardo Calafiori coming in for Miles Lewis-Skelly and Leandro Trossard, who netted the winner at Craven Cottage, replacing Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal expected line-up
(4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calfaiori; Rice, Zubimendi, Eze; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Crystal Palace team news
Oliver Glasner has to juggle his relatively small squad, and the decision to rest Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada in Europe on Thursday night backfired.
Those two should return to the starting line-up for the trip to the Emirates, as should Chris Richards, who was rested against Larnaca.
Aside from that, there are no new injury worries for Palace with Caleb Kporha, Cheick Doucoure, and Chadi Riad still absent.
Crystal Palace expected line-up
(3-4-2-1) Henderson; Lacroix, Guehi, Richards; Munoz, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell; Pino, Sarr; Mateta
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace stats
– Arsenal have won five of their last six Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace, though the exception was a 2-2 draw in this exact fixture last season.
– Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 14 away league games against Arsenal (D5 L8), beating them 3-2 in April 2019 under Roy Hodgson.
– Arsenal have only lost two of their 70 home Premier League matches when they’ve started the day top of the table (W52 D16).
– Crystal Palace have drawn eight of their last 14 Premier League matches (W5 L1), including a 3-3 draw on MD8 at home against Bournemouth. Since the start of April, the Eagles have drawn nine Premier League matches – three more than anyone else.
– Arsenal have not faced a single shot on target in either of their last two Premier League matches.
– Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal’s winner against Fulham on MD8, while the Belgian has netted in each of his last two Premier League starts against Crystal Palace.
– Eight of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s last nine Premier League goals for Crystal Palace have been scored in London, and he’s netted five goals in his last eight London derbies.
– Arsenal lead the way for corner goals (7) and goals from set pieces (10) in the Premier League this season, finding the net with a set piece in six of their eight games so far.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace predictions
The odds were already stacked in Arsenal’s favour, but the fact that they played in Europe on Tuesday while Palace were in action on Thursday tilts it further.
Palace grabbed a 2-2 draw in this fixture last year, but that extra two days should make a difference this time – as should Eberechi Eze, scorer of Palace’s opener in that fixture last April, now being in Arsenal colours.
Not only are the Gunners keeping clean sheets, they’re not even allowing opponents to have shots on target. Therefore, the tried and trusted Arsenal to win to nil punt has to be in play again here.
Palace have impressed this season, but they travel to the league leaders having failed to win any of their last three matches.
After ending his goal drought with a brace against Atletico, Viktor Gykores is worth a punt to score for the first time in the Premier League since he netted the middle goal in the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on September 13.
