Our live stream ahead of Thursday nights Premier League match, Arsenal vs Crystal Palace is now up, kicking off at 20.00 GMT
You can keep an eye on the commentary as it happens below, but first, we take a preview into the fixture, lineups, predictions and much more…
Arsenal have finally hit a good run of form under previously under-pressure boss Mikel Arteta. Their Boxing Day win over Chelsea felt like a turning point at the time and that has proved the case in their three matches since, each of those ending in victory.
As well as beating Brighton and Hove Albion and West Bromwich Albion in the league, the Gunners also saw off Newcastle United 2-0 with the aid of extra time in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie.
After talks of a potential relegation battle looming, Arsenals resurgence has moved them up to 11th in the Premier League and nine points off the top four.
Unlike the Gunners, Crystal Palace were unable to progress past the third round of the FA Cup last weekend, going down 1-0 to fellow top-flight side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, Roy Hodgson’s men did end a five-match winless run in the Premier League in their last outing in the competition, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United.
In what is proving to be a familiar up-and-down campaign for Palace, they could still yet challenge for a European spot or find themselves battling to avoid relegation.
Arsenal and Palace last met in January 2020, where they battled out a 1-1 draw in front of a Selhurst Park crowd…
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Mikel Arteta
Thomas Partey has only played the full 90 twice, did you see enough in those appearances to see that he could change the dynamic of the team and the way you play as a group?
“Absolutely and because obviously we are able to watch him in training. And who he is as well. I think he’s got a different presence. I think he brings something different to the team.”
“It’s not just about his talent it’s not, about his physicality, it’s who he is as a person. He makes players better around him and that’s a big quality.”
“It’s incredible that we are in January, we signed him in the summer and we only played him twice. So, we haven’t really seen the impact that we believe he could have on the team.”
“Obviously, we have missed him. On the other hand we’ve seen players stepping in as well. When that happens they give us some really positive news as well. But I think it’s going to be a big bonus if we can keep him fit.”
It’s obviously a difficult time to move country and move clubs and try and settle in somewhere. Have you had to manage him psychologically as well as his injury and that side of things?
“Yes, because when you are injured you feel first of all the responsibility, when the club has made the effort that we made to sign him. He was so willing for months to be joining us.”
“He really wants to be a part, he knows how much he can help. And then he had to deal with the injuries and the lockdown and moving into a new place, and that’s been tough for him.”
“That’s why sometimes he was rushing and he wanted to do everything straight away because he’s so willing to come back. He doesn’t want to be alone at home.”
“He’s in a really good place to be fair. He settled really well in the dressing room, around the staff. He’s a special character and hopefully we can see him on the pitch finally.”
You mentioned he tested negative for COVID was there a COVID issue with Thomas?
“No there wasn’t no.”
Shkodran Mustafi has hardly played in the league this season and his contract expires at the end of the season. Do you expect him to leave this season or will you keep him as back up till the end?
“Well Musti came back from a really difficult injury when he got injured at the end of last season. After that period he was doing really well. I think his performances were increasing and getting better and better.”
“And when he came back that’s when we had seven or eight central defenders. So he had to get his performance level up.”
“I think physically he still needed some time. Then he started to play some games in Europe which I think he did well as well.”
“And now it’s about, yeah, when do you make the next step to be the starter? And the reality is that we have to change that for different reasons, use different personnel.”
“He’s been very close in a few games. But now we’ve found as well a partnership that is giving us clean sheets, and sometimes when you do that it’s difficult to change. But he’s still in contention.”
And as for his future what do you think will happen with that?
“His future right now is here. Trying to help. We have Papa that probably is going to leave the club this window, we have William that has already gone on loan.”
“So we don’t have that many right now. Gabi has been out for a period, David has been injured, so the situation is completely different to before.”
Looking at the league table the title race is closer than it has been in the past. Why do you think that is? Is it because of the special circumstances of the fixture list this season?
“I think so. I think the teams are not as consistent because everything around is not as consistent. We have to change everything, all the protocols.”
“For example, to start our season with a pre-season, it didn’t exist. We had two training sessions before we play the Community Shield, and then we started to play the league.”
“The squads that we have to manage this year are bigger than ever. The restrictions we have for training to preparation they are stranger. There is no crowds.”
“There is a lot going on. And maybe you can sustain that for a few months, but when it goes down to 10, 12 months it’s more complicated.”
“And you see it in other leagues as well. You see the league table in other leagues, and there is not any precedent in football like this. So it has to be something.”
“We can imagine that there to that Nick, but it’s difficult to say it’s exactly that because it’s the first time it happened. But something is going on that’s for sure.”
Two weeks ago people were talking about you being in a relegation battle. Now you are looking at the top four. Is that an unrealistic target at the moment?
“Well, today it’s not because we haven’t won those games. But that we know we’ve got the capacity to win those games, we’re going to be looking at the season a completely different way.”
“And this is where the motivation and now the positivity has to keep going to really go for it.”
Do you take heart from someone like Ole Gunar Solskjaer? When you beat them people were talking about him being sacked and now suddenly they are top of the league.
“This industry works like that. We are just based on results. And if you are guided by that, a game that is a very low score game it’s a very dangerous thing to do, because the margins to win or lose is one goal. In other sports it doesn’t happen.”
Have you sensed a change of mood around the club because of winning four games?
“Yes, because as we talked in previous weeks I think winning brings you something, even when not playing well, everything is so positive and fluid and energy’s good. And losing is just a devastating thing to have around the place. And it is what it is.”
Roy Hodgson
On Eberechi Eze at QPR on Saturday – what was your reaction and how disappointing was it after Luka Milivojevic’s New Year’s Eve breach?
“Yeah, very disappointing of course. A lot of naivety on his part thinking it was ok to do those things – it obviously isn’t. We’re very upset about it and a bit disappointed too that he wasn’t actually stopped from going.”
“I know QPR have done very well in that respect, they’ve taken some responsibility. Because if we had known he planned to do that, we would have stopped that.”
“But he’s apologised, he will certainly learn a harsh lesson from it. We will have to act internally to take measures to make certain it’s a lesson that he’s well and truly learned.”
The government and the Premier League – they don’t want celebrations now, shirt swapping, hugs and high fives. How realistic and important is it that those kind of things are taken out of the game right now?
“Well it’s a very good question. The only thing is, I think it’s easy for us all to agree that if they could be taken out and we could follow the protocols absolutely too, but I think when you’re playing a game of football and people have ingrained habits – I still feel that whatever we say, however much we push the point, however much we labour the point: when a goal is scored, the emotion, the joy – there’s a risk players will still run to each other.”
“I think some of the other things: the handshaking, shirt swapping, that you could really say there’s no excuse for.”
“And you could also say, I suppose, that there’s no excuse for celebrating a goal, but it’s one thing to agree with the principles and another thing to try and stop it from happening.”
“But I don’t know what referees could do in that area, what we as coaches and managers can do more than we have been – following the protocols and principles we’ve been given.”
Are any of your injured players going to be available for Arsenal tomorrow, and what’s the latest on Mamadou Sakho after Wolves?
“Yeah he’s still being actually – what’s the right word – analysed – maybe not the right word. We’re still looking into the extent of his injury.”
“There will be a few more MRI scans necessary before we know exactly how bad that was. But certainly it’s an injury that will keep him out of the game on Thursday and even the one on the weekend.”
“The other injured players: Jeff Schlupp everyone now knows about. And then of course we have the ones who have been injured for a period of time, ones like Hennessey, Wickham and Ferguson.”
“But otherwise, Gary Cahill is back in training, so we’re happy with that. Basically, with the team we’ve been playing, it’ll be Jeffrey Schlupp and Mamadou Sakho .”
Is Cahill fit to play Arsenal?
“Yes, yes he is.”
On the transfer window, Palace fans are wondering about players nearing the end of their contract possibly leaving. Dougie is dealing with it, but what can you say about players like Nathaniel Clyne? His deal is up at the end of the month, of course.
“Well I think Nathaniel Clyne is just about to sign a deal with us – so I think that problem, if you like, is not a problem because the negotiations have been going on and I’m lead to believe it’s very close now to Nathaniel signing. So it doesn’t worry me, that one.”
“But there are a lot of players as you rightly say who are out of contract at the end of the year and as yet it doesn’t seem a clear decision has been made whether or not to offer them new contracts.”
“These are discussions which are going on behind the scenes with some intensity with Doug Freedman, the player and his agent.”
Your record against Arsenal is pretty good. How confident are you about going up against them given their resurgence recently?
“Yeah, I think that’s the point, their resurgence and the way they’re playing, they’re playing very well.”
“They have a lot of very good players who are extremely dangerous in the attacking phase of the game.”
“They’re not letting many goals in either, so we’re meeting them at a good time for them because they’re in excellent form and they must have very, very high confidence levels.”
“But I suppose we can take some heart and solace from the fact that the last games against them haven’t gone badly, but for me they are still one of the best teams in the country.”
“Any time you play them, you have to be ready for what they are going to throw at you, and I expect them to throw a lot at us tomorrow night.”
What do you put Arsenal’s resurgence down to?
“I put it down to the fact that I never really expected them to do anything other than recover from the unfortunate start they had.”
“You know, looking at the squad, looking at the way Mikel Arteta has been working with them, looking at the way they play, their principles, the quality of the club, their staff: I never really expected anything other than sooner or later they’d come back to being the Arsenal that we know and we expect them to be and be closer to the top of the table than the bottom of the table.”
“So it’s not a surprise. I don’t think you can put it down to anything other than they have obviously continued to work very hard, they’ve not allowed their confidence to be totally dented by a bad run of games, and that they’ve always believed that this good spell of games would come.”
“For us, it’s somewhat unfortunate that we meet them in the middle of it.”
For more from Roy, watch the press conference below…
FORM:
Arsenal Premier League form: LDLWWW
Arsenal form (all competitions): LLWWWW
Crystal Palace Premier League form: DDLLDW
Crystal Palace form (all competitions): DLLDWL
LINEUPS:
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Mari, Tierney; Ceballos, Xhaka; Saka, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang; Lacazette
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Tomkins, Van Aanholt; Townsend, Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze; Zaha, Benteke
SPORTSMOLE PREDICTION:
Arsenal 3-1 Crystal Palace
Prior to beating Chelsea in their most recent home league match, Arsenal had gone five without a victory at the Emirates Stadium in the competition, losing four of those.
Palace have the ability to pull off surprise results, as witnessed against Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United this term, but we are backing the in-form Gunners to keep their momentum going with another win.
Time to take a look at our Arsenal vs Crystal Palace live match stream as it happens…
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