Wenger To Make 3 Changes | Expected Arsenal XI vs Crystal Palace

Arsenal will be desperate to close the gap on the top four when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

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

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech was at fault for Liverpool’s third goal last Friday night but I suspect he’ll continue to start between the sticks with David Ospina once again on the bench.

Defence: Arsenal are expected to be wit out Nacho Monreal after he picked up an ankle injury during the first half against Liverpool so Shkodran Mustafi is set for a recall after replacing the Spaniard during that game.

Laurent Koscielny’s poor form is becoming a worry but I think we’ll see the Frenchman keeping his place so he should start alongside Mustafi if Wenger sticks with the back four.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has performed reasonably well at left-back but I think Sead Kolasinac could be set for a recall on Thursday night while Hector Bellerin should once again start at right-back.

Midfield: Granit Xhaka scored a thunderous effort against Liverpool but his all-round game was disappointing so hopefully we see a better performance from him against Palace.

Aaron Ramsey has once again been ruled out with a hamstring injury so Jack Wilshere should start in the middle of midfield with Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny offering options from the bench.

Attack: Mesut Ozil has been our best player in recent weeks so he’ll keep his place while Alexis Sanchez will no doubt be retained despite putting in some disappointing performances over the past few months.

The Chilean international seems to be going through the motions ahead of a potential January move but he’s still capable of producing moments of magic and Wenger seems to be sticking by him.

However, I think we might see a change in attack with Danny Welbeck coming in for Alex Iwobi as the Nigerian international hasn’t really taken his chance to cement himself in the first team.

Olivier Giroud has been ruled out for at least a month with a hamstring injury so Alexandre Lacazette should once again lead the line up front.

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