There is one match left in the Premier League prior to the international break and it comes along on Sunday afternoon where Arsenal will be looking to take another step towards regaining the title when they host Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have the opportunity to move eight points clear at the top of the table with Manchester City in FA Cup action this week. Palace begin life without Patrick Vieira here and need some points to ease their relegation concerns. This match is not on TV in the UK.
Arsenal
Arsenal suffered disappointment in the Europa League in midweek but if there is a positive then it means they can fully concentrate on winning the Premier League. A lot of judges have been waiting for the Gunners to come unstuck in this title race but the odd tricky spot aside, there doesn’t appear to be any signs of them finding the going too tough just yet and now that Gabriel Jesus is back it might just be Arsenal will last the course and distance and go on and win the title from this position.
If there is a chink in their armour it might just be their recent home performances. They found themselves 2-0 down to Bournemouth in their latest Premier League home game and in midweek they were taken to penalties at the Emirates by an average Sporting Lisbon side in midweek. They could do with a convincing home display here just to settle any noise that might be developing outside the Emirates. A complete defensive display would certainly provide plenty of confidence heading into international break.
Crystal Palace
If things are going well for Arsenal the same can’t really be said for Crystal Palace although I wouldn’t say their season has been that bad that Patrick Vieira needed to be sacked. Admittedly Palace haven’t won in 2023 but if he was sacked because they fear for their Premier League status then they have panicked as although Palace are only three points off the drop heading into the weekend, they had more than enough to stay in the division with the fixtures they have to come after this one.
They have sacked Vieira though and whoever succeeds him will know that if Palace are to climb the table they are going to have to score more goals. They only have 21 goals to their name this season which isn’t really enough with the attacking players they have at their disposal. If they can sort out their scoring woes then they are sound enough defensive to pick up a bunch of wins and conclude the season in positive fashion. This might be a free hit under an inexperienced caretaker who will surely only be in charge for just this game.
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Team News
Arsenal saw defenders William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu substituted with injuries in the penalty defeat to Sporting Lisbon in midweek and both are unlikely to be fit to go in this one. Gabriel Jesus is pushing for a starting spot.
Crystal Palace will be without midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga for this match as he is unable to play against his parent club. Their goalkeeping issues are set to continue with Vincent Guaita expected to miss this match too.
Betting
This probably got a slightly harder match to bet on given that we don’t really know what the Crystal Palace reaction will be to the sacking of Patrick Vieira. Usually when a team is underperforming and the manager gets the boot there is a lift in the dressing room and that team plays with a bit of freedom and plays much better than they had been doing. Given that Palace face a jaded Arsenal here you would have to say that is likely to happen here.
Arsenal certainly aren’t going to pass up this opportunity to move eight points clear without a good fight but this could easily turn into something similar to the Bournemouth game where they make harder work of it than perhaps they would be expected to. That makes me think we are going to get some goals in this match and given that Arsenal could easily turn it on and do a bit of a job on Palace I think a 2.75 goal line is perfectly attainable. I like the over here which will have plenty of chance of landing if Palace do free up and find the net.
Tips
Back Over 2.75 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.90 with Bet365
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