Arsenal have been having a great run this season but they suffered their first major blow of the campaign after Sporting knocked them out of the Europa League this week.
This is a big letdown for the Gunners because, with the form they are in right now, the North London side was one of the favourites to win the UEL this time around. However, with European matches out of the way, Arsenal can now at least devote their full focus on winning the Premier League.
Before heading into the international break, Arsenal will play one final league game this weekend when they welcome Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Palace are having a really poor run of form as they are currently on a 12-game winless streak and on Friday morning the management decided to sack their manager Patrick Vieira. The hunt for the new manager is on and Palace’s Under-21 coach Paddy McCarthy will take charge against Arsenal on Sunday.
This one should be an easy win for the home side but they will have to make sure Thursday’s defeat isn’t playing on their minds. Manchester City are just five points behind them so anything other than a win and the Cityzens will be breathing down their necks.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Just a few days ago, Erik ten Hag had claimed that Arsenal have been lucky with injuries this season but this luck ran out really quickly because, on Thursday, Tomiyasu and William Saliba both picked up injuries.
Saliba’s injury does not seem very serious but Tomiyasu is expected to spend some time on the sidelines.
Talking about Tomiyasu’s injury, Arteta said: ‘Tomiyasu looks pretty serious, for his reaction straight away and what he said to me. Obviously, it’s very early and difficult to know.’
As per the latest reports, Arsenal will wait until the final moments to see if William Saliba is fit to play on Sunday or not. If he is not 100% then Rob Holding will be the one who is going to partner Gabriel in central defence.
Gabriel Jesus has made a full recovery and he’s in line to get another start for Arsenal. Jesus is still not fit to play the full 90 minutes but if he holds onto his starting role then Leandro Trossard will have to be content with a place on the bench because he’s been playing in the centre forward’s position recently.
Martin Odegaard came off the bench on Thursday but against Palace, he will be one of the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Crystal Palace:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Ramsdale; Zinchenko, Ben White, Gabriel, Saliba/Holding; Odegaard, Xhaka, Partey; Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Jesus.
