Matchday Preview: Arsenal need a vital three points

There is always a feeling of uneasiness when facing Crystal Palace. That may be due to watching a top-four finish slip from Arsenals' hands under Unai Emery in a dismal 3-2 defeat that featured Carl Jenkinson, Konstantinos Mavropanos Shkodran Mustafi, and Sead Kolašinac at the Emirates. Fast forward to this past October with both clubs having different managers, yet the same uneasy feeling for Arsenal fans. Arsenal nearly lost the match, but thanks to a last-second goal from Alexandre Lacazette, the Gunners squeaked out a point at home.

Todays' match bodes the same resonating sound for Arsenals' season, a pivotal three points. Although there are very few matches in the Premier League that feature an easy three points, Crystal Palace is not one of those few matches. However, if Arsenal fans are questioning whether or not the Arsenal players will be ready for this game after returning from International duty, Arteta put it plainly, "We're going to have to be prepared, and we will be prepared," (Football.London).

While many fans were hoping for some results to go the Gunners' way this weekend, that wasn't necessarily the case. Chelsea, of course, received an utter thrashing from Brentford to help the gap between third and fourth stay at just five points. Still, a dominant showing from Tottenham Hotspur against Newcastle United has seen the North London rivals leapfrog the Gunners in that fourth position in the table. The silver lining for Arsenal fans is to remember that Arsenal has two games in hand over Tottenham, and they still have to play each other this season. Even Tottenham Manager Antonio Conte admitted, "We know very well that in this race there are other teams that may in this moment have an advantage. Arsenal has to play two games. Don't forget Manchester United. Don't forget West Ham and Wolverhampton is having a fantastic season. This league is very difficult," (SkySports).

Regardless of how other teams are performing around the league, the focus is on today's match. Arteta already publicly said that the team must focus on every game as a cup final and continue to win each one. Arriving into the final stretch, where there are no more international breaks to put the club season on pause, Arsenal has tricky results besides this Crystal Palace match today; they're still poised to play Manchester United at home, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Tottenham Hotspur at Hotspur Stadium, and West Ham United at London Stadium.

Arriving into today's game, Arsenal is nursing two injuries to both Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu. While Ramsdale missed the last match due to a hip injury, he was featured in training pics just days ago, suggesting he is good to play. If Ramsdale can feature, he could be an immediate impact on the ball distribution out of the back for Arsenal. As for Tomiyasu, he has struggled with two calf injuries and is still a question mark on when he could return to action. Cedric Soares has stepped up tremendously in Tomiyasus' place and has received high praise from Arteta on the stretch of performances. "It's not a coincidence. When you have the professionalism, the dedication, the habits that Cedric has, good things happen to you. He's been patient, keeping quiet and working hard. When he's had the chances he's done well and that's why the national team manager has decided to bring him back, which I'm really happy with," (Football.London).

Predicted Starting 11:

GK- Bernd Leno

RB- Cedric

CB- Ben White

CB- Gabriel

LB- Kieran Tierney

CM- Thomas Partey

CM- Granit Xhaka

RM- Bukayo Saka

CAM- Martin Ødegaard

LM- Gabriel Martinelli

ST- Alexandre Lacazette

Assuming that Arsenal is taking precautions on Ramsdales' hip injury, Mikel Arteta will keep the starting eleven the same as during these stretch of games for the past few months. He has found the starting lineup that continues to perform to his expectations and has an interchangeable piece in Emile Smith Rowe that he can bring on in the second half of this game. Tomiyasu is the only question mark on if he will be featured on the bench or starting, but it's probably safe to say that he will not feature today, given those quotes from Arteta about Cedric.

Score Prediction:

2-1 Arsenal

An impressive statistic from Arsenal comes from their defensive performances against Crystal Palace. Since the October 2013 match, Arsenal has not kept a clean sheet on the road against Palace. While if anyone is to break this streak, it would be this defensive core managed by Arteta; it does feel, however, like a match that could lead to a slip-up from Arsenal. Since it is a primetime game and on a Monday, Arsenal may come out shaky to start, and Crystal Palace Manager Patrick Viera has his team performing well in their recent games. Overall, this game should be taken back into control from Arsenal if they don't create the same mistakes they faced in the previous result against Palace. The front attacking four of Martinelli, Saka, Ødegaard, and Lacazette will be vital because this match could feature few opportunities to score. Therefore, they must pounce on every chance they're given. The midfield pivot of Xhaka and Partey seems to be growing stronger every match, so if they continue their run in front of the Arsenal defense, it could prove to be problematic in attack for Crystal Palace.

The top-four race for the Premier League table seems only to be heating up, and if Arsenal returns to the Champions League, they must win this match. However, suppose they are to drop points after today's game. It may give Arsenal fans PTSD of the previous seasons when Arsenal came so close to returning to the Champions League, only to waste the opportunity away at the end of the season. Kickoff is at 3 pm eastern time and can be seen on USA Network or the NBC Sports app.