Premier League: Tea at the Palace is no Picnic for Arsenal

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

Mikel Arteta’s title chasing Arsenal make a short trip to South London on Saturday to take on Crystal Palace at what will be a hostile Selhurst Park.

The Palace ultras are renowned in the Premier League for the noise they make on their home turf and the 5-30pm date could be rather uncomfortable for their North London visitors. The Gunners dropped points last week in a frustrating goalless draw at home to Everton and the latest Premier League 2024 betting odds have pushed Arteta’s men out to 4.50, alongside Chelsea as second favourites.

Now in third place in the league table and six points behind leaders Liverpool, Arsenal can ill afford to drop more points over the festive period and a clash away to the Eagles is not as comfortable a prospect as it was a few weeks ago. After a difficult start to the campaign Oliver Glasner has got Palace moving in the right direction and last week they picked up an impressive 3-1 win away to fierce rivals Brighton and Hove Albion.

Oh yes, and then there’s the small matter of a Carabao Cup clash between the two teams on Wednesday, which Arsenal won 3-2. Palace would dearly love to taste some revenge on Saturday.     

 

Talking Points

Eagles have found their wings

Last week my SBOTOP colleague Jordan suggested the Eagles were finding their feet, and in the M23 derby they showed just how their confidence is growing as they stunned the Seagulls with a 3-1 win. 43 miles separate the two clubs but there has been plenty of bad blood dating back to the 1970s and Glasner’s men took the pressure well and responded brilliantly.

Former Watford star Ismaila Sarr scored twice after Trevor Chalobah had given the Eagles an early lead and the only time ambitious Brighton breached their visitors’ defence was when Marc Guehi diverted a clearance into his own net late on. Palace keeper Dean Henderson earned his salary with five strong saves, including a brilliant stop from a Lewis Dunk header.   

The Eagles’ Premier League 2024 results have certainly picked up, with victories over Brighton and Ipswich Town, and draws against three big hitters; Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Manchester City.  

And the Carabao Cup loss to the Gunners won’t worry Glasner; in fact I suspect it may have given his team that extra little incentive. 

 

Can Jesus solve the Number 9 problem?

The main obstacle to Arsenal’s title ambitions, in my opinion, is the lack of a proven and consistent goal-scorer, a man who can lead the line and score the match-winning goals. The Gunners have relied heavily on set pieces and have spread the goals around and, with the creative talent of the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, they have plenty of goal threat. But a 20 goals a season man they don’t currently have. Arsenal have been linked with England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin after news emerged that Everton will listen to offers in the region of £20m for the 27 year old. Calvert-Lewin has been dogged by injuries but he has proved previously that he knows where the net is…and at £20m he represents a relatively low risk.

Kai Havertz has done a decent job as a ‘false’ number nine but he has only scored five goals in the Premier League and, during Arsenal’s Carabao Cup win over Palace, Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus reminded the boss what he can do with a superbly taken second half hat-trick. The 27 year old was a one in three goals man for Manchester City and is for the Selecao, but his tally at Arsenal is nearer one in four, at 18 goals in 67 games. Many of his appearances have been from the bench and Jesus may just have worked his way into his manager’s thoughts.

Arteta needs to do something; as well as being six points behind Liverpool the Gunners are only three ahead of Manchester City who are on a dreadful run, and his former boss, Pep Guardiola, is likely to get the Sky Blues on track before long. In draws against Fulham and Everton Arsenal have failed to turn dominance into goals and Crystal Palace will be no more generous, and arguably more dangerous in attack, certainly than the Toffees. 

 

History

Arsenal have won 16 of 28 meetings with the Eagles, while there have been eight draws and four Crystal Palace wins over the past three decades. 

The Gunners have won the last four encounters including a 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park last season followed by a 5-0 rout at the Emirates.  In terms of recent form there wasn’t much to choose between them before they met at the Emirates on Wednesday, Palace had won two and drawn three of the last five games, while the Gunners had won three and drawn two.  

 

Betting Tip

Arteta’s team are heavily fancied to win this London encounter at odds of 1.55 with the quickly improving Crystal Palace at 4.84 to take another three points. This is a fascinating clash which will give Arsenal a much biggest test than it would have in October… and I can see more frustration on the way for the Gunners.

For a long shot correct score-line, I’d go for a 1-1 draw at odds of 6.95.    

   

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