Wenger To Make 1 Key Change: Predicted Arsenal XI To Face Crystal Palace

Arsenal will look to keep in touch with the top four when they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night.

Here is the side Gooner Mac thinks Arsene Wenger will select for the game:

Goalkeeper: Wenger confirmed at his press conference on Friday that David Ospina is still out with a muscle issue while Petr Cech has failed to recover from a calf strain that he picked up last month. Therefore, third-choice Emiliano Martinez will start in goal and look to build on a solid performance last time out which saw him keep a clean sheet.

Defence: Our defence was far more solid against West Ham and with Koscielny still not back from an Achilles injury that he suffered against Man City, I think Wenger will name an unchanged back four.

Gabriel was impressive in dealing with the likes of Andy Carroll last week so he should keep his place alongside Shkodran Mustafi while Hector Bellerin is almost certain to start at right-back.

Kieran Gibbs was back on the bench against the Hammers but I think Nacho Monreal will retain his place at left-back.

Midfield: Francis Coquelin is back in contention after missing the West Ham game due to personal reasons but I think a place on the bench is the best he can hope for as we have plenty of options in midfield again.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey both made their comebacks from the bench against the Hammers last week and are pushing for starts but Mohamed Elneny is expected to keep his place.

The Egyptian put in an impressive display alongside Granit Xhaka and Wenger has been praising their partnership in recent days so I think we’ll see the boss go with the same duet tomorrow night.

Attack: However, we may see one change up front with Olivier Giroud coming in for Danny Welbeck in attack. The Frenchman came off the bench to score a fine goal against West Ham and his height will also be very useful against Palace so I think we’ll see him leading the line up front with Welbeck dropping to the bench.

Theo Walcott was among the goals again last time out so he should retain his place while Mesut Ozil was back to something like his best with a goal and an assist against West Ham so we’ll be looking for more of the same from our German superstar.

Alexis Sanchez wasn’t involved in any of our three goals against the Hammers but he still put in a lively display so I expect we’ll see him once again starting from the left at Selhurst Park.

Here is how I think we’ll see Arsenal line-up: