Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
Selhurst Park forms the backdrop for an all-London Premier League match-up between Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
Driven by revenge after succumbing to a goal-glutted 3-2 defeat in midweek EFL Cup action, Crystal Palace will be out to settle the account with Arsenal and maintain their form resurgence in the Premier League (W2, D3). Oliver Glasner’s men held Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in their last home outing before gunning down Brighton 3-1 on the road in the previous round to build a four-point lead on the bottom three. However, victories at Selhurst Park have been hard to come by, with the Eagles only winning one Premier League home game this season (D4, L3). Arsenal’s impending visit spells further trouble, considering Palace have lost their last two top-flight H2Hs at this stadium without scoring! It’s impossible to exclude another identical outcome, as they’ve fired more blanks at home (4) than any other EPL team this season.
Reaching the EFL Cup semi-finals at Palace’s expense renewed optimism around Mikel Arteta’s camp following a morale-wracking 0-0 home draw against Everton last weekend. Back-to-back Premier League stalemates have significantly derailed Arsenal’s title hopes, leaving them six points adrift of pacesetters Liverpool. On the bright side, those results form part of the visitors’ six-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (W6, D3), during which they netted 2+ goals six times. More enthusiasm comes from Arsenal’s formidable form in Premier League London derbies, as they’ve yet to lose such a contest in 2024 (W7, D2). Avoiding defeat here would see the Gunners become only the second team in EPL history to go a full calendar year unbeaten against cross-capital rivals since Chelsea in 2005.