Premier League matchday 21 brings an interesting all-London clash on Saturday between Arsenal and Crystal Palace. The kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 AM EST at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are in a cold spell at the moment, losing to Fulham in EPL action before Liverpool knocked them out in the third round of the FA Cup. They need to bounce back here. The Eagles meanwhile were eliminated from the FA Cup on Wednesday as well by Everton and haven’t been in the best form in Premier League play, either. Below, find the Arsenal vs Crystal Palace picks.
Before we get into the odds, match preview, and picks, check out the biggest Vegas online soccer betting sites if you plan to put money down on this match.
Arsenal is a gigantic favorite to win this match outright with -340 moneyline odds. Palace comes back at +975. A draw is priced at +490. The Gunners have won three consecutive fixtures against the Eagles. In fact, they’ve only tasted defeat once in the previous nine meetings with Palace. You can understand why the odds are so lopsided.
The Gunners remain in the title race, sitting five points back of first-place Liverpool. But, if they continue to struggle, Mikel Arteta’s side won’t be competing for the grand prize much longer. The North Londoners are only 1-1-3 in their last five league outings, with that lone win coming on December 17th against Brighton. Since, then it was a 1-1 stalemate with the Merseysiders and then back-to-back domestic defeats to West Ham and Fulham. And as previously mentioned, Liverpool then took them out of the FA Cup earlier in the month.
Arsenal hasn’t played since January 7th now and come into this clash with 13 days of rest. Their 12-4-4 EPL record is respectable, but a positive result is very much needed on Saturday. Bukayo Saka has been the leading man in the final third for the Gunners, bagging six goals and setting up another six. With only one goal in his last seven games though, the Englishman is due. Elsewhere, Eddie Nketiah has hit the back of the net five times and Kai Havertz has added four as well.
There are a few injury concerns for the Gunners. Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira are sidelined, while Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu are away on international duty. Oleksandr Zinchenko is battling a calf issue, but there’s a good chance he will feature here. Arsenal does play very well at home with a 7-2-1 record, which is a positive sign as to what could happen on Saturday.
The loss of Wilfried Zaha was definitely a big one for Palace after the Ivory Coast international joined Galatasaray last summer. While he wasn’t always the most consistent, Zaha was a creative player who could always make something out of nothing. The Eagles are just five points above safety at the moment in 14th place with a 5-6-9 record and have a mere one victory in their last 11 appearances across all competitions. That came way back on December 30th when they beat a quality Brentford side.
Palace settled for a scoreless draw with Everton in early January in the FA Cup third round which resulted in a replay this week. Andre Gomes scored the winner for the Toffees late in the first half and the Eagles could never find an equalizer. Palace had more opportunities and more of the ball but couldn’t produce the goods. That’s been a common problem for Roy Hodgson’s group all term, bagging only 22 goals in 20 games. Former Celtic man Odsonne Edouard is the most productive finisher for the London outfit, scoring six times in 15 matches. Michael Olise also has five goals but remains out with a hamstring injury. He has no timetable for return.
Cheick Doucoure and Joel Ward are both on the shelf with injuries as well while veteran Jordan Ayew is at AFCON with Ghana, which means he will not be available for selection in North London. Surprisingly, the Eagles own a slightly better record on the road, sitting at 3-3-4 compared to 2-3-5 at Selhurst Park. Regardless, they’ve barely ever beaten Arsenal over the last number of years therefore it will be a very tough encounter.
Although Arsenal is in dismal form, I have no doubts they will collect the three points. The moneyline might not offer a whole lot of value but believe in the Gunners to get it done on home turf.
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