Arsenal’s 2022–23 Premier League campaign was off to a bright start. Although there were questions about their performance on match day 1, they beat Nottingham Forest 2-1, but didn’t win convincingly.
Next for Arteta and the boys is a clash against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday, August 21st. In the last eight encounters between the two sides, Arsenal have won three times, lost once, and drawn four. Last season, Arsenal had a perfect record over them; they beat them 2-0 at Selhurst Park and 4-1 at the Emirates.
Paul Merson predicts Arsenal will beat Palace 2-0; he claims Arteta and the boys will be pressured to fulfil their fans’ expectations after raising their bar last season. Even so, he says that the game won’t be easy. Roy Hodgson will try to make it hard for the Gunners, which could cause problems for them, but he says his former club have it in them to deal with the Eagles.
In defence of his prediction, Merson claimed on Sportskeeda, “Arsenal started the game against Nottingham Forest looking nervy. That’s the problem that the Gunners are going to encounter this season. They have to play with the weight of expectations this term.
“The Gunners have earned the respect of teams thanks to their performances last season. So they’re going to come up against teams that sit back and defend deep against them.
“I didn’t like the fact that Thomas Partey started at right-back ahead of Takehiro Tomiyasu. I also don’t see Kai Havertz as a midfielder; however, I have faith in him, and he is the kind of player you want when games open up. It will be interesting to see how Mikel Arteta goes about using these players over the course of the new campaign.
“Meanwhile, Crystal Palace had a great result last week, and they will cause Arsenal problems. But they are unlikely to cause enough problems to get a win over them.”
Let’s hope Merson gets this one right, Arsenal need to start building some momentum ahead of the tougher games ahead.
Daniel O
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So my tip for top 4 are 4-1 up and cruising and now top of the shop!
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MAN UNITED???
After being beaten by spurs, not a lot!