Crystal Palace: Guaita, Kelly, Tomkins, Cahill, Riedewald, Meyer, McCarthy, Kouyate, McArthur, Zaha, Ayew.
Subs: Dann, Hennessey, Tosun, Wickham, Woods, Kirby, Pierrick.
Arsenal: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Papastathopoulos, Luiz, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Holding, Nelson, Martinez, Willock, Guendouzi, Martinelli, Saka.
Two years ago, give or take a couple of weeks, Arsenal went four goals up against Crystal Palace in 22 minutes. They ended up winning that one 4-1, but since then, they’ve not had the best of it against their London rivals. A 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park in October 2018. A 2-3 reverse at the Emirates last April. And they shipped a two-goal lead at home in October, Palace coming back for a draw that hammered one of the last nails in Unai Emery’s coffin. Arsenal weren’t in too good a shape back then.
But times change. Palace have won only one of their last seven matches in all competitions, while Arsenal are two on the bounce, a record that might not be much to write home about, until you consider the Gunners had only previously won one in 15. Under new boss Mikel Arteta, their tails are up, even if they relied on the profligacy of Leeds United in the cup on Monday night.
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