Following the sacking of Patrick Vieira on Friday morning, Paddy McCarthy and Darren Powell lead the team to take on the Premier League leaders on Sunday afternoon in a bid to raise spirits in and around the club.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 30pm
- 19th March 2023
- Emirates Stadium, Hornsey Road, London N7 7AJ
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last visit to the Emirates was a productive one for Palace back on October 2021. An early goal for the hosts from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked ominous for the Eagles but Christian Benteke stepped up with an equaliser shortly after the break. Odsonne Edouard gave Palace a surprise lead with a little over 15 minutes left to play only for Alexandre Lacazette to find an equaliser in the dying seconds.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Christian Benteke (8.2)
OFFICIALS
- Referee: Stuart Attwell
- Assistants: Lee Betts, James Mainwaring
- Fourth official: Andy Madley
- VAR: Darren England
- Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Sam Johnstone and Nathan Ferguson continue to miss out while Albert Sambi Lokonga is unable to play against his parent club. Will Hughes and James McArthur are due to make a return following illness but a question mark remains over the availability of Vicente Guaita.
ARSENAL – Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu all miss out through injury. William Saliba is expected to face a late fitness test.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – Tyrick Mitchell (1), James Tomkins (1), Cheick Doucoure (1)
YELLOW CARDS (6+) – Cheick Doucoure (9), Marc Guehi (7), Joachim Andersen (6)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 05/08/22 Palace 0-2 Arsenal
- 04/04/22 Palace 3-0 Arsenal
- 18/10/21 Arsenal 2-2 Palace
- 19/05/21 Palace 1-3 Arsenal
- 14/01/21 Arsenal 0-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 15/03/23 Brighton 1-0 Palace
- 11/03/23 Palace 0-1 Manchester City
- 04/03/23 Villa 1-0 Palace
- 25/02/23 Palace 0-0 Liverpool
- 18/02/23 Brentford 1-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for Arsenal;
- 16/03/23 Arsenal 1-1 Sporting
- 12/03/23 Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
- 09/03/23 Sporting 2-2 Arsenal
- 04/03/23 Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth
- 01/03/23 Arsenal 4-0 Everton
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 12th in the Premier League with 27 points from 27 games played while Arsenal are 1st with 66 points from the same amount of games.
RECORD AGAINST ARSENAL
- Played 52
- Won 6
- Drawn 16
- Lost 30
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Gabriel Jesus 7.53
- Bukayo Saka 7.43
- Joachim Andersen 6.84
- Wilfried Zaha 6.82
ONE TO WATCH
THOMAS PARTEY
FORMER CLUBS – Odometah, Leganes, Atletico Madrid, Mallorca (loan), Almeria (loan)
It is no coincidence that Arsenal missed the Ghana international when he had a spell out injured recently as they look a much stronger outfit with him anchoring the midfield.
KEY CLASH
JOACHIM ANDERSEN v GABRIEL JESUS
The Brazilian recently returned to the Arsenal side after an injury that he received while on international duty at the World Cup and should he start or play a part he will be up against the Danish international.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace have only won 3 of their 22 league away fixtures against Arsenal
- Arsenal have dropped points at home to Palace in each of the last 4 seasons, with defeat in 2019 followed by 3 successive draws
- Victory on Sunday would ensure Arsenal equal last season’s final total of 69 points with 10 matches still to play
- They have earned 5 straight league wins, 1 short of the longest streak in the division this season set by Newcastle
- The Gunners can also match their longest Premier League winning streak of 6 games under Mikel Arteta
- Arsenal are vying to become the first team to win more than 8 top-flight London derbies in a season. In 9 derbies in 2022-23, they have only dropped points in a 1-1 home draw versus Brentford last month
- Leandro Trossard has provided 1 goal and 5 assists in 9 league appearances for Arsenal
- Palace’s current 11-match Premier League winless streak is their longest since going 14 games in a row without a victory between December 2015 and April 2016
- Their tallies of 5 points, 4 goals and 26 shots on target during that period are all the lowest in the division in 2023
- It’s 4 league matches without a goal for Palace, who haven’t scored in the first half in any of their 11 top-flight fixtures in 2023
- They have already equalled last season’s total of 12 Premier League defeats
- Palace are winless in all 17 league games this season against the teams in the top half of the table heading into this weekend (D8, L9).
- Wilfried Zaha has failed to score in any of his past 10 Premier League appearances
- At 19 years and 15 days, Joe Whitworth became the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Premier League game on Wednesday since Sunderland’s Ben Alnwick in December 2005
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (6)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (5 – 12th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1437 – 15th in PL)
- TACKLES – Cheick Doucoure (62 – 5th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (1745 – 19th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (48)
- FOULS – Jeffrey Schlupp (41 – 4th in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Wilfried Zaha (77 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (84 – 4th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on January 22, 1927 was the first live radio broadcast of a football match by the BBC, which had formed five years earlier.
PREDICTION
It has been a bit of a mad week for both clubs – Patrick Vieira being sacked by Palace after the defeat to Brighton, while Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League after a late night at the Emirates. Could Paddy McCarthy and Darren Powell oversee a surprise on Sunday? Funnier things have happened but we will be honest and admit that we would be chuffed with a point.
FINAL SCORE: 1-1
RESOURCES
