Eagles Return To Selhurst For Second Arsenal Instalment Of The Week

After a hard fought defeat at the Emirates in the cup during the week, it is a return to South London and the Premier League for Palace to host Arsenal. 

 

MATCH INFORMATION

21 December 2024 – 5.30pm
Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU

 

PREVIOUS MEETING

21/08/2023 – It was a tight affair at the beginning of last season which was the last time Arsenal headed to South London. It took just one goal from Martin Odegaard shortly into the second half for the Gunners to take all three points but two quick bookings for Takehiro Tomiyasu gave the hosts a bit of hope but Palace could not take advantage. 
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – William Saliba (7.9)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee Simon Hooper
Assistant Adrian Holmes
Assistant Simon Long
Fourth Official Oli Langford
VAR Michael Salisbury
Assistant VAR Steve Meredith
 

TEAM NEWS

PALACE – Matheus Franca, Rob Holding, Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz, and Ebere Eze will all miss out. Chadi Riad will be assessed. 

ARSENAL – Ben White is not available, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchecko will face late fitness tests. 

 

DISCIPLINARY RECORD

This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses.

RED CARDS – Daichi Kamada (1), Declan Rice (1), Leandro Trossard (1), William Saliba (1)
YELLOW CARDS (over 3.5) – Will Hughes (6), Daniel Munoz (5), Jefferson Lerma (4), Gabriel Jesus (4)

 

FORM GUIDE

Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;

17/12/2024 Arsenal 3-2 Palace
20/01/2024 Arsenal 5-0 Palace
21/08/2023 Palace 0-1 Arsenal
19/03/2023 Arsenal 4-1 Palace
05/08/2022 Palace 0-2 Arsenal

Last FIVE results for Palace:

18/12/2024 Arsenal 3-2 Palace
15/12/2024 Brighton 1-3 Palace
07/12/2024 Palace 2-2 Manchester City
03/12/2024 Ipswich 0-1 Palace
30/11/2024 Palace 1-1 Newcastle

Last FIVE results for Arsenal;

18/12/2024 Arsenal 3-2 Palace
14/12/2024 Arsenal 0-0 Everton
11/12/2024 Arsenal 3-0 Monaco
08/12/2024 Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
04/12/2024 Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United

 

LEAGUE POSITION

Heading into the fixture, Palace are 15th in the Premier League with 16 points from 16 games played, while Arsenal are third with 30 points from the same amount of games. 

 

RECORD AGAINST ARSENAL

Played 56
Won 6
Drawn 16
Lost 34

 

FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED

This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!

Bukayo Saka 7.90
Martin Odegaard 7.06
Ebere Eze 6.99
Daniel Munoz 6.96

 

ONE TO WATCH

MARTIN ODEGAARD
FORMER CLUBS – Drammen Strong, Stromsgodset, Real Madrid, Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad
We witnessed the huge impact that the Norwegian had on the game in the week when he came on at half time, ultimately proving to be the difference in the cup tie, and the Palace midfield will need to attempt to do a better job on him. If he is allowed to run the game, the visitors will end up with the three points. 

 

THE NUMBERS

Arsenal are looking for a fifth consecutive league win over Palace. They have won the previous four by an aggregate of 12-2.

Palace have lost their last 2 home matches against Arsenal, failing to score in either.

The Gunners have lost just 2 of their last 19 away league games against Palace (W10, D7) – both finished 3-0.

Palace have gone 5 league matches unbeaten (W2, D3), their longest such run of the season, having lost just 1 of their last 8 Premier League games (W3, D4).

Two of Palace’s 2 league defeats this season have come against London clubs (West Ham and Fulham).

Oliver Glasner’s side have scored just 6 Premier League home goals this campaign, a joint-division low alongside Ipswich Town.

Ex-Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah has failed to score in his last 28 Premier League appearances.

 

KEY CLASH

ISMAILA SARR v GABRIEL
The Ivorian had a stand out game last weekend at Brighton by scoring a brace and he will need to provide more support for Jean-Philippe Mateta who found himself isolated in midweek against Arsenal. But, Sarr has made himself a real threat and will up against a a tough central defensive partnership. 

 

PRE-MATCH STATS

This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players.

Goals Jean-Philippe MATETA 4 (28th)
Assists Ebere EZE, Will HUGHES, Tyrick MITCHELL, Ismaila SARR 2 (40th)
Passes Marc GUEHI 831 (20th)
Tackles Daniel MUNOZ 56 (1st)
Touches Marc GUEHI 1044 (25th)
Shots Ebere EZE 43 (8th)
Fouls Will HUGHES 24 (14th)
Dispossessed Ismaila SARR 18 (34th)
Saves Dean HENDERSON 51 (5th)
Clearances Marc GUEHI 79 (7th)
Big Chances Missed Jean-Philippe MATETA 8 (8th)

 

TEB PREDICTION

While Ebere Eze has not been in great form so far this season, the news that he will likely miss this game will cause a problem for the Eagles, as will Daniel Munoz missing out through suspension. That will make the challenge even more difficult and combine that with a real need for the visitors to take victory to keep them in the title race, stacks everything up against the Eagles. However, there is always a chance and players like Eddie Nketiah coming into the side who grabbed his second Palace goal in midweek, has a point to prove. 

PREDICTED SCORE: 3-1 to Arsenal
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