It has not been a good weekend for Arsenal as we have already seen Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Man United, Liverpool and Everton all secure three points, which means that the Gunners simply have to beat Crystal Palace this evening to keep pace with our rivals.
The bad news is that we are again going to have to go to Selhurst Park with our best defender Laurent Koscielny, and with our third-choice keeper between the sticks again. Wenger explained: “I think from Wednesday’s game, nobody should be out. Coquelin is back available after his family problem. He’s back in contention again. I don’t believe that Cech will be available for Monday night, nor Ospina. These are the two players who will still be out.
“I didn’t mention him (Koscielny) because for me he’s out on Monday night.”
This is not good for us coming up against a team that has found their end of season form with 4 wins out of their last 5, including that win at Stamford Bridge. Wenger also thinks that Palace will be dangerous after that. “Look, what was for sure is that it was a big surprise, because they played away from home and overall certainly it was a shock for Chelsea as well. But we know I would just say the win of Crystal Palace at Chelsea is in the continuity of what we have seen in the Premier League since the start of the season. Surprising results because the difference between the teams has become shorter and smaller, so anything can happen in any game. But it doesn’t change basically my thinking about the game. We know we have to play at our best to win the game.”
Palace are also desperate to win to stay ahead in the relegation race, and after winning their last two home games will be in confident mood as well. Every game is a Cup Final from now on!
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