Albert Sambi Lokonga has been a regular starter for Crystal Palace since signing on loan from Arsenal at the end of January
TEAM NEWS
Crystal Palace Under-21 head coach and former club captain Paddy McCarthy will manage the first team on Sunday following Patrick Vieira’s sacking.
Albert Sambi Lokonga is ineligible to face his parent club, Will Hughes and James McArthur remain doubts because of illness and goalkeeper Vicente Guaita might not be fit to return.
Arsenal defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba were both substituted because of injuries against Sporting.
Saliba’s back issue may ease by Sunday.
CHRIS SUTTON’S PREDICTION
On paper you might look at this and think a straightforward home win but it rarely works out that way when Arsenal play Palace.
The Eagles have not been beaten at the Emirates on any of their past four visits, drawing three and winning one.
Palace are on a long winless run but I am not so worried about them going down. They still have to play all eight of the teams below them in the table and they picked up 16 points out of a possible 24 against them earlier in the season.
The question here is whether Palace can hold out and they showed against Manchester City last weekend that they are not easy to break down – it took until the 78th minute for City to score with a penalty.
So, it is not going to be easy for the Gunners – they will have to watch out for counter-attacks too – but I am still expecting them to win.
Crystal Palace have only won two of their 22 league away fixtures against Arsenal: 2-1 at Highbury in October 1994 and 3-2 at Emirates Stadium in April 2019.
However, Arsenal have dropped points at home to Palace in each of the last four seasons, with defeat in 2019 followed by three successive draws.
Arsenal
Victory on Sunday would ensure Arsenal equal last season’s final total of 69 points with 10 matches still to play.
They have earned five straight league wins, one short of the longest streak in the division this season set by Newcastle from October to December.
The Gunners can also match their longest Premier League winning streak of six games under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal are vying to become the first team to win more than eight top-flight London derbies in a season. In nine derbies in 2022-23, they have only dropped points in a 1-1 home draw versus Brentford last month.
Leandro Trossard has provided one goal and five assists in nine league appearances for Arsenal.
Crystal Palace
Palace’s current 11-match Premier League winless streak is their longest since going 14 games in a row without a victory between December 2015 and April 2016.
Their tallies of five points, four goals and 26 shots on target during that period are all the lowest in the division in 2023.
It’s four league matches without a goal for Palace, who haven’t scored in the first half in any of their 11 top-flight fixtures in 2023.
They have already equalled last season’s total of 12 Premier League defeats.
Crystal Palace are winless in all 17 league games this season against the teams in the top half of the table heading into this weekend (D8, L9).
Wilfried Zaha has failed to score in any of his past 10 Premier League appearances.
At 19 years and 15 days, Joe Whitworth became the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Premier League game on Wednesday since Sunderland’s Ben Alnwick in December 2005.
Predict Arsenal’s starting XI for their next fixture – remember you can change the formation!
Predict Crystal Palace’s starting XI for their next fixture – remember you can change the formation!
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
