Arsenal make a trip to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace in their first London derby of the season on Monday night.
This match also doubles as Arsenal’s first away fixture of the season. Arsenal come into this fixture knowing that they have lost the previous four Monday night matches but will take pride in the fact that their away record was the best in the league last season.
The Gunners also eased passed London clubs last season, winning 10 out of the 12 matches they played while drawing the remaining two.
Crystal Palace face an uphill task in this fixture as their manager Roy Hodgson is winless in all four Premier League matches he has faced Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta he drew twice and lost as many while in charge of Watford and Crystal Palace.
When these clubs met last season, Arsenal had no difficulty in beating Crystal Palace home and away with 2-0 and 4-1 scorelines at Selhurst Park and Emirates Stadium respectively.
Both clubs are chasing a second victory of the season having each opened the campaign with wins, Palace beating Sheffield United and Arsenal edging Nottingham Forest.
Team news
Crystal Palace will miss the services of Michael Olise, who snubbed Chelsea and signed a new four-year contract with the Eagles. Other missing players are summer signing Matheus Franca (back) and Will Hughes (knee).
The news is that Marc Guehi is available for this fixture, even though he limped off last weekend against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
For Arsenal, Jurrien Timber joined Gabriel Jesus in the sickbay nursing a lengthy knee injury he sustained during the Gunner’s match against Nottingham Forest over the weekend. Albert Sambi Lokonga, Falorin Balogun, and Mohamed Elneny are also unavailable due to injuries.
The good news for Arsenal is that Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has been nursing a calf injury that has kept him away for over three weeks could return to the matchday squad.
