England Premier League
Monday 18th October 2021
Kick off at 8pm BST
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Match Preview:
Monday evening will see a very interesting London derby at the Emirates when Arsenal take on Crystal Palace. There will be added spice to proceedings and a dash of emotions as Patrick Vieira returns to Arsenal as manager of Crystal Palace.
Arsenal started the season in very poor form although they did have some very tough fixtures, since then Mikel Arteta’s side have looked solid and come into this game unbeaten in their last four.
Though the Gunners are in 13th place which still feels odd for a club used to finishing in the top six, they would be in 5th position based on form. The Gunners last match finished in a 0-0 draw against Brighton and that ended a 3 game winning run. At home the club have played 3 games and have won their last two in a row beating Tottenham last time out 3-1.
Like Arsenal it took Crystal Palace a few weeks to find their footing and the Eagles have lost just once in their last five games. Though victories are not coming so fluidly and their recent results have been riddled with draws. Before the international break Palace drew 2-2 with Leicester and their last away game was a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
Currently Vieira’s side are just one position below Arsenal in 14th place and a win would take them above the Gunners on goal difference. Away form is poor with just 1 point earned from an available 9, however two of those games were against Liverpool and Chelsea so it is hard to be too critical of them. Their point was earned in a draw against West Ham.
Team News:
Arsenal: Gabriel Martinelli has a knock and is only 50/50 to be ready for this game. Granit Xhaka is out until at least January with a knee injury.
Crystal Palace: There are no new injuries for the club ahead of this game.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Head to Head:
This fixture ended 0-0 last season.
The last time the teams played each other was last May and at Palace’s ground Arsenal won 3-1.
4 of the last six meetings has finished in a draw.
It’s been 4 games at the Emirates since Arsenal claimed a victory over Crystal Palace which came back in 2018 in a 4-1 win.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Prediction:
Mikel Arteta surely will be unhappy about the timing of the international break because not only were his side winning games and picking up points they were playing good football and seemed to have gotten over their poor spell which at one point saw them at the bottom of the table. International breaks can obviously break up that momentum, but that is no guarantee and the players could be more than happy to be back up in the set up and play for the manager.
Arsenal have struggled of course overall under Arteta’s leadership but they still have a better team than Palace and are at home and so will be the favourites to walk away with the 3 points.
Crystal Palace have become a hard team to beat and Vieira would love to get one over on his former club. However question marks are going to remain with Palace, they have had some very difficult away games already, granted against Liverpool and Chelsea but in both they have looked outclassed. They might get some joy in periods during this game but we will back the Gunners here to get the win and continue to march up the table as they try to put their early season poor form to bed.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips:
Arsenal to beat Crystal Palace at 1.70
Both teams to score at 1.91
Correct Score: Arsenal to win 2-1 or 3-1 at 9.00 and 16.00
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