Premier League leaders Arsenal will kick off their “11 finals” hosting Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium this Sunday hoping for nothing but a victory.
The Gunners were 2-0 victors when the two clubs met in August last year for the first match of the 2022/23 Premier League season at Selhurst Park.
After being eliminated from the Europa League by Sporting CP on Thursday night, Arsenal now have no other “distractions” from the Premier League where they still command a convincing lead against second-placed Manchester City, but have to get maximum points from the remaining matches in order to win the league.
A win against Crystal Palace will give Arsenal an eight-point advantage at the top of the table but the Eagles have not lost at the Emirates Stadium in the last four matches (W1 D3).
Crystal Palace come into this fixture with Paddy McCarthy in charge following the sacking of first-team coach Patrick Vieira yesterday after going 12 games without a win. McCarthy, who is the club’s U21 coach talked about the encounter with Arsenal and gave a few details of how they hope to stop them.
“We’ll try and implement an aggressive style out of possession in different ways. We’ll look to be aggressive when we don’t have the ball, and we’ll look to progress the ball up the pitch in possession,” McCarthy told reporters in a pre-match press conference on Friday.
Having been made caretaker manager only hours before the match that also doubles as a London derby, McCarthy has had little time to implement his ideas in the first team.
He added: “At this football club, part of our identity is that we’re aggressive out of possession and certainly quick and fast in the attacking third. We’ve got some excellent attacking players here and we want to get the ball up to them, in control, as many times as possible. I’m sure that up against any defenders, with their quality, they can be a real problem.”
Team news
Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu was substituted in the first half during the Europa League elimination match against Sporting CP on Thursday and was spotted leaving the stadium on crutches so he is out of this one.
William Saliba, who was also subbed off after feeling some discomfort, is yet to be assessed for fitness ahead of this match. Eddie Nketiah and Mohammed Elneny are still out injured. Other Arsenal players are available for selection.
For Crystal Palace, Albert Sambi Lokonga is ineligible to play against his parent club as he is on loan from Arsenal. Will Hughes and James McArthur have an illness so they are doubts but first-choice goalkeeper Vicente Guaita could be back.
This is the final matchday before the international break.
