Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man & Prediction

Arsenal make the short trip across London to take on managerless Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime looking to extend their lead at the top of the table.

The Gunners head into the weekend action sitting two points clear of second-placed Chelsea so can widen the gap with a win in tomorrow’s early kick-off.

Arsene Wenger’s men saw their long unbeaten run ended with a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday but we are still yet to taste defeat in the league since an opening day defeat to Aston Villa and haven’t lost on the road in 13 games.

We take on a Palace side who have lost seven of their eight league games so far and Monday’s 4-1 defeat to Fulham saw Ian Holloway leave his role as manager. Keith Millen is in caretaker charge for the visit of Arsenal but he faces a huge task to lift his players.

The Eagles also have a dreadful record against us, having won only 2 of their previous 26 meetings with the last win coming way back in 1994, so we should be confident of picking up all three points this weekend.

Team News

Mathieu Flamini is back in contention having missed the Dortmund game after suffering concussion against Norwich last weekend.

The Frenchman is expected to come straight back in and start alongside Mikel Arteta in midfield, with Aaron Ramsey likely to start on the right wing. Jack Wilshere is a doubt after being forced off in midweek with an ankle knock.

Arsene Wenger confirmed the 21-year-old will face a late fitness test but I think he’ll be given a breather with Santi Cazorla expected to start after making an excellent impact off the bench against the Germans.

Mesut Ozil is also available after Wenger revealed the playmaker was suffering from sickness in midweek, but Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain out.

Palace may have no manager but they are in good shape with no new injury concerns, meaning only captain Paddy McCarthy and Glenn Murray are missing.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Santi Cazorla: The little Spaniard was superb when he came on against Dortmund and I can’t wait to see how he links up with Mesut Ozil. I have a feeling Cazorla’s going to play an important role tomorrow.

Predicted Score

Crystal Palace 0-3 Arsenal: It’s difficult to know how the Palace players are going to react to the exit of Holloway but the signs are we should win this game with relative ease.

What would be your starting line-up for the game and what’s your score prediction? Share your thoughts below.