Can Palace Overturn Poor Arsenal Record?
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The Monday night offering in the Premier League sees Crystal Palace welcome Arsenal to Selhurst Park in a highly-anticipated London derby.
Crystal Palace are just 3 points clear of the relegation zone heading into this weekend’s fixtures and need to win this game to keep themselves clear of the bottom three. Arsenal cannot afford to drop any more points in their hunt for a top four place, a position they have been accustomed to finishing.
Crystal Palace were disappointed to come away from their mid-week match at Southampton with a defeat. Having taken the lead through Christian Benteke, the Eagles were well set to register their fifth Premier League win in a row. However, Southampton scored an equaliser just before half-time and added two late goals in the second half, to seal an unhappy night for Palace.
Arsenal went into their match with West Ham having failed to win in three Premier League games. With the match approaching the hour at 0-0, it looked like being another frustrating night for the Gunners. Thankfully for Arsene Wenger, Mesut Ozil popped up with a goal on 58 minutes and Arsenal went on to seal a 3-0 victory.
Trends show, despite the defeat to Southampton, Crystal Palace have won four of their last five Premier League games, which is much improved on earlier in the season. Sam Allardyce’s men have won their last two home league games against Middlesbrough and Watford, without conceding a goal.
Arsenal have been struggling to find any consistency since the end of January in the Premier League. Trends show the Gunners have lost five of their last seven away league games, winning only one of them. This must be a concern for Wenger, with five away matches still to come this season.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Arsenal’s recent away results is the ease in which they have been beaten. The last three away games have seen 3-1 defeats for Arsenal and even against teams like Chelsea and Liverpool, Wenger’s team were expected to come closer than that scoreline suggests.
Crystal Palace have been struggling to score goals at home all season and have manged only 2 in their last five league games at Selhurst Park. However, the Eagles will be looking forward to facing an Arsenal defence which has conceded 17 goals in their previous seven league games, at a rate of 2.4 goals per game. Arsenal have kept just three clean sheets away from home in the league all season.
You must go back to 1994 to find the last time Crystal Palace defeated Arsenal in the Premier League. Arsenal have won nine of the previous twelves games between the teams, with three matches ending in a draw so a Palace victory is a rare outcome.
Given the continued injuries suffered by Crystal Palace, a victory may be out of reach in this game. However, with Arsenal possibly forced to continue with their third-choice keeper and Laurent Koscielny a doubt, Allardyce will feel a point is certainly within reach.
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