Arsenal vs Crystal Palace – Preview & Team News

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Emirates Stadium forms the backdrop for an all-London Premier League showdown between out-of-sorts Arsenal and bottom-half Crystal Palace on Saturday, January 20. For those Arsenal fans who enjoy betting on the game, you can pick up more tips on how to live bet on 1xBet and bet on Arsenal games while you’re watching them live.

The Palace game will be the Gunners’ curtain-raising 2024 league fixture, with Mikel Arteta’s underperforming side looking to make amends for a dreadful end of 2023.

Despite spending Christmas at the top of the pile for the second season running, Arsenal ended the calendar year only a single point clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Back-to-back top-flight losses to cross-city rivals Fulham and West Ham United demoted last season’s Premier League runners-up to fourth in the standings, five points adrift of table-topping Liverpool.

A morale-damaging 2-0 defeat to the Merseyside giants in a blockbuster FA Cup third-round tie added insult to injury as Jurgen Klopp’s side benefitted from Arsenal’s chronic wastefulness to tear the Emirates part.

Left to rue missed opportunities in his team’s first scoring blank on home turf after netting in 12 previous outings in north London, Arteta highlighted the risk of a mental collapse in the aftermath.

“Probably it has (become a psychological issue). Especially after today, more than it was against Fulham or West Ham before that. That’s why I think we need to reset,” Arteta said, as relayed by Arsenal’s X account.

Given Arsenal’s noticeable downfall, a 13-day hiatus could be what the doctor ordered, giving the Spanish manager enough time to rally his troops ahead of Palace’s visit.

Match Preview

After surrendering a four-match winning streak in New Year’s Eve-held fixtures against Fulham and thus making it three winless Premier League games on the trot for the first time in 2023/24, there’s an element of pressure on Arsenal to kick off 2024 in style.

With just one win from their last seven games across all competitions (D2, L4), the Gunners would be wise to listen to Arteta’s post-Liverpool remarks if they’re to remain relevant in the Premier League title race.

Palace’s visit comes as a seemingly presentable opportunity to show a disheartening 2-0 defeat to West Ham in their last home league assignment was a one-off.

Goals from Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos knocked Arsenal down from an eye-catching five-match winning league run at the Emirates, intensifying pressure on Arteta to regroup quickly.

While there’s a substantial gap in quality and current positions in the table, visiting Palace won’t go down without a fight after signing off for 2023 with a morale-boosting 3-1 home win against Brentford.

That result helped the Eagles put an emphatic halt to a disastrous run of eight consecutive Premier League matches without winning (D3, L5), alleviating some pressure on veteran manager Roy Hodgson.

More importantly, Palace took advantage of Luton Town’s 3-2 home loss to Chelsea to build a six-point lead on the relegation territory and head into the new calendar year in a buoyant mood.

Avoiding defeat against Arsenal would be massive for the troubled Selhurst Park outfit, and it’s hard to put it past them to pull off an upset in north London.

Before a 4-1 defeat in this corresponding fixture last season, Palace had gone unbeaten in four successive top-flight H2Hs at the Emirates (D3, L1), explaining why the Gunners can’t take anything for granted.

Team News

With Arsenal jetting off to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp, Arteta has received a double-injury boost.

Long-term absentees Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey are part of the squad that will spend a week in the Middle East to prepare for the impending Premier League return, as per football.london.

While it’s hard to expect them to regain full fitness for the Palace clash, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira could recover in time to make the matchday squad.

How Could Arsenal Line Up Against Crystal Palace?

(4-3-3): David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus.

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