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Confirmed Arsenal team to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park

The teams are out for Arsenalโ€™s penultimate match of the 2020-21 campaign, with us set to take on Crystal Palace this evening.

The South London side will be hoping to keep up their unbeaten run against our side tonight, having denied us a win in each of our last five clashes, but Mikel Arteta will have other ideas.

Palace will also be hoping to give manager Roy Hodgson the right send off in his final home match at Selhurst Park, with the fans return possibly playing their part in the result.

Arsenal should be completely up for this match, knowing that anything less than a win will confirm us as failing to qualify for European football, although our fate could be sealed by other results on the night regardless.

All our players can do is make sure we get the right result on the night, and I would be shocked if our player didnโ€™t show any fight knowing the repercussions of failure.

We were already aware that both David Luiz and Hector Bellerin were available for tonightโ€™s clash, although both could well make their returns at the weekend, which led us to name the below predicted XI earlier on today:

Leno
Chambers Holding Gabriel Tierney
Partey Ceballos
Saka Smith Rowe Aubameyang
Lacazette

As you can see, Arteta had slightly different ideas.

Will this team show the fight needed to get the right result this evening?

Patrick

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Tags arsenal v crystal palace Crystal Palace

159 Comments

          1. Looks good. I wonder if I should purchase one! I have been disappointed this season safe for the prediction game.

      1. It was just a hamstring problem and he played as a sub in the last three matches, so he should be fully fit now

        I think Arteta has realized that starting both Aubameyang and Lacazette is usually ineffective. Besides, Aubameyang is way more difficult to sell

    1. He should have been ahead of Shearer in my opinion.
      The squad of Invincibles should be in there… all completely immortal in the footballing world.

      1. Die hard gooner here but Shearer is a PL legend. Top scorer and played all his career in England. No way DB should’ve been ahead of him introduced.

    2. As Ian Wright stated publicly “Dennis Bergkamp is the best signing Arsenal has made or is ever likely to make.”
      He, prior to Arsene Wenger, had Arsenal players considering their diet and training. They saw Bergkamp’s clean life style and how long and hard he trained, notwithstanding his immense talent and skill level.

  6. Why did he even buy Cedric, must Martinelli start from the Bench all the time. Why is he no longer playing Auba and Lacazette together.

  7. Need this win to have a chance of finishing above the spuds.
    Like the line up and we should take all three points.
    But where is Balogun?

  9. Pleasantly surprised by the line up it looks like since Villarreal MA has been going back to basics happy to see Mo partnering TP luckily Eze is injured but still worried about Zaha he seems to always turn up against us.score prediction 3-1 Arsenal!

    1. I wonder if we can get Eze next season? He has looked good this season and may give good comp to ESR next season. I have heard he was our former player too.

      1. I predict Arteta would try to get a left-footed CAM for his 4-3-3 next season, either by bringing Odegaard back or promoting Cottrell, Patino or Hutchinson

        1. Eze seems good with both feet. He would be lot more direct though, more like a winger than a cam. So our playstyle would have to be quickened. Maybe MA is fixated on the buildup amd would do as you say?

      2. I doubt it to be honest he looks like Zaha’s long term replacement and Palace spent around 20M i think so he wouldn’t come cheap!

      4. Another case of Arsenal not knowing a good footballer, if he jumped up and bit them on the arse.

    1. Thatโ€™s increased his value no end but hopefully we will keep him and he will carry it on, or am I being too optimistic?

      1. I think you are D or we’re both too pessimistic i had the same reaction “increased sale value”

      3. Scoring midfielders are hard to come by in this Arsenal team maybe we should keep joe

  19. As i have been saying,willock is a future top goal-getter from midfield like lampard&gerard were in the past,so letting him go will be a huge mistake

  24. Only thing I dislike about ESR is he drifts wide everytime leaving the center of the pitch completely vacant. If you watch our attack there’s no one in the CAM hole at all

    Great goal

    1. Yup. That limits our CMs passes. Also he tends to drift more towards the left, which kind of pulls TP towards the right a bit and Mo in the centre gets countered on and Palace advance.

      1. Love him to death but the fact remains is there’s nothing in the middle to play through.

        1. I think thatโ€™s our major problem, if we could get a cam that will support attack from the middle we will play better

  26. anyone listening to Peter Walton commentary. He can at least pretend he doesn’t hate Arsenal. Might have to mute the game honestly.

    1. oh yeah, there’s a game being played. Eh, fine. And Arteta needs better than fine from the players right now.

  27. We playing one man down (in a manner).
    Arteta please give me an attacking striker, not a strolling one.

  28. Good half.
    Pros would be the goal.
    Cons would be that our middle lacks penetration and most of our crosses seem wasteful.

  29. I feel Arsenal were lacking some motivation, but they still managed to make a great team goal. Benteke did well as a target man and Palace were lucky to get away with two yellow cards

  31. Have to stop playing defensive now – we were easily on top and then give up as soon as we get the goal. We need to make sure of this one

  32. Auba be like Uber, chasing the ball around the houses..

    He donโ€™t look right to me.

  33. Just saw the playback of the first yellow – shouldโ€™ve been a red – was a leg breaker

  35. Arsenal should win this and make final day interesting
    Liverpool, Leicester and Chelsea will be fighting it out if Liverpool win tonight. Everton, West Ham, spur and arsenal. Can we grab 7th, fingers crossed

  36. Some of Elneny’s passing has been pleasantly Pirlo-esque today. Even though some fans want him gone, I wouldn’t mind retaining him. He’s reliable if unspectacular. If he can consistently pass like he’s doing tonight, he might even be good enough to start for us in rotation with other players. Partey has been solid as well and the midfield looks great as a unit making all the players around them better. Saka is insane- generational talent that one

    1. Elneny is a solid squad player, who rarely lets the side down; however in Benteke’s goal he lost his footing and went down too easily.

  37. I’m hoping Pepe and Saka swop….i think everyone knows that Pepe is better on the LW

  38. This team is weak mentally. They only perform when there is no pressure. We have nothing to play for again. Even if we win this game by 10:0, it does not change the fact that Arteta has to go. Bring in the Atalanta coach

  39. Really wish our midfielders made the occasional run behind defenders, there’s almost no movement to get behind.

  40. It was coming…

    To much pressure..

    Need martinelli with some pace up top. Take off auba who has done nada.

  42. Saka and Pepe should’ve been switch

    Auba a passenger yet again for the millionth time

    Martinelli on the bench again

    Weak mentality

    We are still in decline

    2. I guess this is what GAI means when he speaks of a tall, plan B striker๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…

  44. Too much pressure? Palace has hardly had the ball..Trying to play out from the bk when it should of been booted up the field cost us that goal

    2. He is devoid of skill and common sense .., we are just going to have to take a big loss or swap him for rafhina at Leeds

      1. Pepe is pretty skillful but has zero football brains. This is where you need a coach to train him, so we screwed

      2. 2 more goals to Pepe’s total for the season. Not bad for a player “devoid of skill and common sense”.

    1. And we keep being given second chances that we just donโ€™t seem to want to take!

  49. So instead of bringing on Martinelli the clown brings on A Real Madrid reject ๐Ÿ˜‚
    Absolutely moron .

    1. Trust the process ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
      Please get out of our club and take youโ€™re slow thinking fans with you .

  50. I have yet to see MA come up with a consistent solution to teams that sit deep. When a team does this we rarely win.

    Forces is to go wide and cross to a non existent target man. Game plan = sit deep and let Arsenal play sideways the whole game

  51. Is it just me or do we seem to take longer to take a throw-in than any other team in the history of football?

  53. Partey has been making terrible passes. We can’t get any trophy next season if our main deep-lying midfielder plays like this

    1. Zero movement infront of him with the CAM position completely empty. No one is sitting in the hole, it’s like watching u9s play. Terrible coaching honestly.

      You can’t say we’ve had anyone in the CAM position, it’s simply not true

    2. Donโ€™t think we are getting any trophies anytime soon personally..;)

      Maybe is SK sells and the new owner removes MA and heavy investment is made.

      Even then the stains of apathy and non ambition from top down to the roots of the club will remain.

      Not all bad though! New kits nice!;)

  54. We donโ€™t deserve Europe if we donโ€™t win this. Sat back inviting them on all the time after we got the goal … Theyโ€™re not Chelsea!

        2. Malaria is a very debilitating disease. Aubameyang perhaps should not even be playing, if his long term health is considered.

  59. wE CANT KILL GAMES OFF…Leading 1 nil and the manager told his boys to come out and defend.. against a palace side..

  65. MA taking notes for the last game of the season:

    -Martinelli effective from the bench, always start him there

  66. ๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™€๏ธ

    Thanks for three points but still AO

  67. In need of a goal to still be in contention for european qualification&our dear best ever tactical coach brings on granit xhaka…gotanidea?

  68. So who can understand why MA like to use oldies instead of young and hungry players like Gabriel Martinelli?

    Always remember Martinelli’s goal against Chelsea.

    We have a confuse manager who confuse most of the players.

          2. Haha no your doing well Sue ๐Ÿ˜€ now predict where we finish in the table ๐Ÿ˜† a quiet place 2 is out on June 3rd I’ll look forward to that ๐Ÿ‘

          3. I can’t wait for that, Kev, and at the cinema!!! Been soooo long!
            Nah, I’ll leave that to you – mystic meg ๐Ÿ˜‰

          4. It was supposed to be released last year Sue but delayed because of the pandemic also the conjuring 3 out this month, loved the second one ๐Ÿ‘ hahaha well I see Totts and Ryan Mason losing ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ‘Œ

          6. Yeah Sue I’m looking forward to both, kinda running out of films to watch ๐Ÿ˜† they might rehire Juande Ramos or Christian Gross ๐Ÿ˜‰ haha imagine they went with fat frank ๐Ÿ˜† leicester look like they have bottled top 4 again ๐Ÿ˜ฏ

          7. Going to be really exciting on Sunday (& not just for the predictions!!)
            Fat Frank is linked with Palace…
            I’m waiting for Ozark and Stranger Things to return!!
            I’m really enjoying ‘Mare of Easttown’ atm.

          8. Yeah although we can’t finish higher than 7th now Sue, I was hoping West Brom would win tonight ๐Ÿ˜ฉ. Yeah I read that.. I think he will take that job. I don’t think I’ve watched a tv show in a long time I’ll be looking forward until new cobra kai and Yellowstone ๐Ÿ‘ŒI watched 100 feet the other night, horror film, check it out if you haven’t already seen it Sue ๐Ÿ˜„

        2. I thought I had predicted 1-2 and was disappointed with the third goal but it has cost you and Dan 3 points so now I am thankful for it.

  71. Ok I take it back on Pepe.. he is god!;)))

    But why wait until the game is won?!!!

  72. If Martinelli didn’t have a protection clause perhaps things might have been a bit better.

    1. Yup. Overall it is a little lousy, but when he gets on a run like that with his body shielding him and on his strong foot he is very good.

    2. Yeh I did..
      Great run and finish as I said.. But..
      I do stand by it though.. most times when he receives the ball he looks as though itโ€™s not under control and quite often that proves to be the case..

      Obviously he has moments of skill , tricks etc but youโ€™d hope so for ยฃ72MIL wouldnโ€™t you..

  74. Pepe is clinical and pretty skillful

    He just desperately needs coaching to become consistent.

    1. Zaha thought it was going be him against his countryman, and was eventually worn out by the better player.

      Now it’s clear we spent our 72 well.

  79. Great job pepe… just had to screw my prediction again

    Fu..ing late goals i hate them

  81. Arsenal left it late to give two deadly punches in the ball.

    By the way, Arteta has been punishing this boys. How could they play 10 men against 11 from whistle blast and he refused to correct his clear error?

  82. Aubamayang should be left on the outer. He is a ghost. Whatever happens next season, it has to be about the kids and letting them play. Arteta sit down, stop micro managing and let your players express themselves. Arsenal shout have coasted this game in if you hadn’t been so negative.

  83. This team needs a real striker , a more advanced cam and a better box to box. Elneny not good at all,

  84. With the caliber of players we have , series of distractions and off field events MA hasnโ€™t performed too badly compared to others. We have been too emotional about our judgment, to think Mourinho and Anceloti didnโ€™t perform better despite having a better squad Iโ€™ll give him 6/10 for this season, I believe with better players he can get us back to the top

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