Crystal Palace vs Arsenal – Insight into matchday No. 1

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Crystal Palace will host Arsenal on Friday to kick off the Premier League season. The Gunners have spent heavily this offseason, so far signing five players, with the aim of cracking the top four once more.

The Eagles have been slightly more modest with their spending. Manager Patrick Vieira made some smart signings but still hasn’t replaced the attacking wonders of Conor Gallagher, although a transfer for the midfielder could be on the cards.

With the new season just days away, let’s look at some insight into Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal.

New Season, New Adventure

Arsenal have splashed the cash this offseason. Despite plenty of Arsenal fans saying the club cannot compete with the likes of Man City, Liverpool, and Man United in terms of spending, the Gunners still shelled out over £113 million on new signings.

Whether any of these players will do the business for Arsenal is debatable. The biggest signing of the five thus far was Gabriel Jesus for £45m from Man City. Manager Mikel Arteta knows the striker well from their time together at the Etihad.

It is hoped the Man City castoff will be able to play through the middle and score goals. Jesus scored just eight goals in 28 Premier League appearances last season, but added nine assists. Of course, Man City had far more quality than Arsenal do now, allowing Jesus to tally those numbers.

Crystal Palace’s big offseason signing thus far has been 22-year-old midfielder Cheick Doucoure. The defensive midfielder cost just over £20m.

Doucoure played 34 times in Ligue 1 for Lens last term. He scored one goal and added four assists. The midfielder is a combative force and his seven yellow cards last season show Doucoure isn’t afraid of a tackle.

Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal: Head-to-Head

Draws were on tap in four of the last six games between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at full-time in all competitions. Last season, Crystal Palace went unbeaten against Arsenal and can be considered the Gunners’ bogey team.

Full-time result

• Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal 4-4-2022
• Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace 18-10-2021
• Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal 19-5-2021
• Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace 14-1-2021
• Crystal Palace 1-1 Arsenal 11-1-2020
• Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace 27-10-2019

As you can see four of the last six games between these sides finished with over 2.5 goals. In addition, four of the six games finished with BTTS.

In four of the last six games, Arsenal were leading at halftime. Just one of the last six matches saw Crystal Palace leading at the break.

Halftime result

• Crystal Palace 2-0 Arsenal 4-4-2022
• Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace 18-10-2021
• Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal 19-5-2021
• Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace 14-1-2021
• Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal 11-1-2020
• Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace 27-10-2019

Top goal scorers in Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal fixtures

• Paul Merson (Arsenal) – 6 goals
• Kevin Campbell (Arsenal) – 5 goals
• Luka Milivojevic (CPFC) – 5 goals
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – 4 goals

Patrick Vieira vs. Mikel Arteta

Since taking over at Crystal Palace, Vieira is unbeaten in two matches against Arsenal. He averages 2.00 points per match.

Arteta has managed five times against Crystal Palace posting a record of 1W-3D-1L. He averages just 1.20 points per match versus Crystal Palace.