Kick Off: 12:30 GMT

Location: Emirates Stadium, Islington, London

UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports

Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Smith Rowe, Odegaard; Martinelli, Jesus, Saka

Arsenal Absentees: Vieira (unknown, maybe fit), Timber, Partey, Tomiyasu (Asia Cup), Elneny (AFCON)

Arsenal Form: LLLDW

Possible Crystal Palace XI: Henderson; Clyne, Anderson, Guehi, Mitchell; Hughes, Lerma; Franca, Eze, Schlupp; Mateta

Crystal Palace Absentees: Doucoure, Rak-Sakyi, Ward, Ferguson, Holding, Ayew (AFCON)

Crystal Palace Form: LDWLD

	Team	P		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	20		8	2	0	26	8		5	4	1	17	10		13	6	1	43	18		25	45
2	Manchester City	20		6	3	0	24	9		7	1	3	24	14		13	4	3	48	23		25	43
3	Aston Villa	21		9	1	0	29	8		4	3	4	14	19		13	4	4	43	27		16	43
4	Arsenal	20		7	2	1	22	10		5	2	3	15	10		12	4	4	37	20		17	40
5	Tottenham Hotspur	21		7	0	3	20	13		5	4	2	24	18		12	4	5	44	31		13	40
6	West Ham United	20		5	3	2	17	10		5	1	4	16	20		10	4	6	33	30		3	34
7	Manchester United	21		6	1	4	15	18		4	1	5	9	11		10	2	9	24	29		-5	32
8	Brighton & Hove Albion	20		5	4	1	22	14		3	3	4	16	19		8	7	5	38	33		5	31
9	Chelsea	21		5	3	3	18	14		4	1	5	17	17		9	4	8	35	31		4	31
10	Newcastle United	21		8	0	3	25	10		1	2	7	16	22		9	2	10	41	32		9	29
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20		5	3	2	16	14		3	1	6	14	17		8	4	8	30	31		-1	28
12	Bournemouth	19		3	3	3	11	12		4	1	5	17	23		7	4	8	28	35		-7	25
13	Fulham	21		6	0	4	19	12		1	3	7	9	24		7	3	11	28	36		-8	24
14	Crystal Palace	20		2	3	5	11	14		3	3	4	11	15		5	6	9	22	29		-7	21
15	Nottingham Forest	20		3	3	4	14	15		2	2	6	10	20		5	5	10	24	35		-11	20
16	Brentford	19		3	3	4	17	18		2	1	6	9	13		5	4	10	26	31		-5	19
17	Everton	21		3	2	6	11	12		5	1	4	13	16		8	3	10	24	28		-4	17
18	Luton Town	20		2	2	6	13	17		2	2	6	11	21		4	4	12	24	38		-14	16
19	Burnley	21		1	1	9	11	25		2	2	6	10	17		3	3	15	21	42		-21	12
20	Sheffield United	20		2	1	7	10	24		0	2	8	5	25		2	3	15	15	49		-34	9

After a disastrous Christmas and New Years period which saw Arsenal top the table on Christmas day, only to tumble down to 4th by the New Year, as well as go out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round, Mikel Arteta will be gagging for a victory here – a victory by all means. 3 points is all that matters at this point. We have to start winning again. Arsenal have not won a game of football since the 17th of December 2023. That is over a month. A win here for Arsenal is an absolute must if they want to stay within reach of a potential, albeit unlikely, shot at the title.

I have gone out on a whim here and predicted an Emile Smith Rowe start in tomorrows game. Today sees a lot of noise regarding a potential loan exit for the young Englishman, once heralded as a future star, but who now finds himself struggling to see more than 5 minute appearances each game. Arteta has outrighted stated in his press conference that he is happy with Smith Rowe and that he is training very well – now is the time to put up or shut up. We are struggling for goals, we are struggling to find the final ball, those are two of Emile Smith Rowe’s strongest areas. I can see Arteta making a statement by giving him a rare start.

Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace side have struggled to find form and consistency this season, so it is hard to say how they will play tomorrow. They have, however, taken three points at Old Trafford, as well as a point at the Etihad, so they are certainly no team to scoff at, and with the recent form of the home side, dropped points for Arsenal are certainly not too hard to imagine. Palace have had a rough time scoring this season, sitting at 18th place when it comes to goals scored per match at 1.1, Arsenal sitting 7th at 1.9. It will be an interesting game on the goals front, as Arsenal seem to be very leaky at the moment after starting the season off with an immense defensive record. A clean sheet would be a huge bonus for Arsenal here.

I’ll make a prediction for this one, and it isn’t pretty. Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace. Let’s hope I’m wrong.