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After the UEFA Champions League defeat against Borussia Dortmund on home soil, Arsenal will hope to bounce back & get three points come weekend when they face Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park. For Crystal Palace, they play their first match after the departure of Ian Holloway in midweek after Fulham game. Keith Millen is in caretaker charge for the visit of Arsenal.
Since, the start of the 2013/14 campaign, Crystal Palace have lost five matches in a row after their opening fixture of the season against Sunderland, which they won 3-1. The Eagles have not suffered six losses in a row since March 2001, when they were playing in the second tier of English football.
The situation for the Gunners is quite different. Arsenal are currently unbeaten in 13 competitive away games, winning 11 and drawing twice. Since their opening day defeat to Aston Villa, Gunners have won 19 of a possible 21 points in the Barclays Premier League (W6 D1) and sit at the top of the Premier League table with 2 points lead over second placed Chelsea.
No team has used more different players in the Premier League this season than both Arsenal and Crystal Palace (24). The man to watch out for is the French Talisman Olivier Giroud. As well as scoring four goals in the Premier League this season, he has four assists – a Premier League high. Giroud only managed 3 Premier League assists in 2012-13.
After the game against the Eagles, Arsenal have pretty tough fixtures on the trot. They face Chelsea in Capital One Cup game in midweek, while in Premier League they take on Liverpool at the Emirates, followed by the visit to Theater of Dreams, to take on Manchester United. And if the Gunners want to stay in the race for the Premier League title, they surely don’t want to lose against Crystal Palace, come Saturday.
Team News:
- Arsenal: Everybody from the Dortmund game are available for selection against Palace except Jack Wilshere. He will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s trip. Mathieu Flamini is available as he had no basic injury & was not played against Dortmund on precautionary purpose. Podolski (hamstring), Yana Sanogo (back), Theo Walcott (pelvis), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee) and Abou Diaby (knee) remain sidelined.
- Crystal Palace: Crystal Palace have no fresh injuries to worry about. Glenn Murray (knee), Jack Hunt and Jonathan Williams (both ankle) are all long-term absentees. Defender Patrick McCarthy will hope to at least feature on the bench after recently returning to training following a groin injury.
OPTA Facts:
- Crystal Palace have won just five points and scored five goals in their previous eight Barclays Premier League meetings with Arsenal.
- The Eagles have won just 40 points in their 44 Premier League London derbies.
- Two of Arsenal’s three Premier League title winning campaigns (1997/98 and 2001/02) have seen them pick up fewer points from their opening eight games of the season than they have this term (19).
- Despite having been relegated in each of their previous four Premier League seasons, Palace have made their worst start to a PL campaign; picking up just three points.
- Eight different Arsenal players have netted a goal in the Premier League this season; no side have had more individual goalscorers (Chelsea also have eight)
Match Officials:
- Referee: Chris Foy.
- Assistants: P Kirkup, M Wilkes.
- Fourth Official: M Oliver.
