Arsenal are on a mini-unbeaten run – since losing to Manchester City at the end of August, Mikel Arteta’s men have gone on a roll of five game without defeat, including one League Cup game and the North London derby in which Arsenal gave one of the best first half in recent years.This evening, Arsenal face another team that welcomed the international break with a league draw – Crystal Palace.Mon, 18/10, 22.00: (1.80) ARSENAL (3.70) CRYSTAL PALACE (5.00)Two weeks ago, Palace had a thriller match against Leicester City with both teams scoring two goals each – having in mind the Foxes had a two-nil lead after 37 minutes. Patrick Vieira woke up his squad which managed to equalize and keep at least a point at their Selhurst Park.Around the same time, Arsenal’s bland performance against this season’s surprise Brighton quickly burst the North-London-victory bubble, bringing back the concerns hovering over Arsenal at the beginning of the season.Tonight, two ex-Arsenal midfielders prepare to lock horns in the dugout. Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus in 2005, a year before the club moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium while Arteta ended his playing career with the Gunners in 2016.🗣 “I arrived at this football club as a kid and left as a man, this is the club where I played my best football.”Patrick Vieira on the emotions of returning to face Arsenal tonight as Crystal Palace manager pic.twitter.com/NscQmXrxcw— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 18, 2021 The French manager can certainly expect a warm welcome from the Emirates faithful as he prepares to face his old club as a manager for the very first time. However, as the Eagles aim to soar to another respectable result, sentimentality will go out of the window for 90 minutes.The fact that teams sit next to each other in the Premier League table (Arsenal 13th, Palace 14th) could take the match to another level, competitively.Arsenal have been guilty of a lack of defensive discipline against bogey team Palace in recent years, with Wilfried Zaha, always a rumoured target for the Gunners, out to wreak havoc in the penalty area yet again.However, Arteta appears to have found a deceptively strong defensive formula with White, Gabriel, Tomiyasu and Tierney in the back four.Mikel Arteta | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | Press Conference. Part 2Short clip of what the boss has to say ahead of the Crystal Palace clash #coyg #arsenal #arsenalsa #matchday pic.twitter.com/qX7dKzvnnK— goonercast_sa (@GoonerCast_SA) October 18, 2021 Arsenal’s only confirmed absentee at this moment is the long-term knee victim Granit Xhaka. Quick-footed Gabriel Martinelli picked up a minor injury over the international break and will most probably miss the entire line-up. On the other end, Palace only have long-term absentees Nathan Ferguson and Eberechi Eze to miss.In the last five Palace games – the Eagles collected one win, one defeat and three draws. What is encouraging is that the draws came against the teams who are in the upper half of the league.If the red-and-whites of North London perform the same way they did against Tottenham in that first half, Palace shouldn’t have even bothered crossing those 20 kilometers to Emirates Stadium.However, if Arteta’s men mimic the game against Brighton – Palace have more than enough chance to draw or even snatch all three points.##EDITORS_CHOICE##ARSENAL POSSIBLE STARTING LINE-UP:Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Lokonga; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; AubameyangCRYSTAL PALACE STARRTING LINE-UP:Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; McArthur, Milivojevic, Gallagher; Ayew, Edouard, ZahaPREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 8SaturdayWatford – Liverpool 0-5 (0-2)/Sane 6, Firminho 37,52,90+1, Salah 54/Aston Villa – Wolverhampton 2-3 (0-0)/Ings 48, McGinn 68 – Saiss 80, Coady 85, Neves 90+5/Norwich – Brighton 0-0 Man. City – Burnley 1-0 (1-0)/Silva 12, De Bruyne 70/Southampton – Leeds 1-0 (0-0)/Broja 53/Leicester – Man. Utd 4-2 (1-1)/Tielemans 31, Soyuncu 78, Vardy 83, Daka 90+1 – Greenwood 19/Brentford – Chelsea 0-1 (0-1)/Chillwel 45/SundayEverton – West Ham 0-1 (0-0)/Ogbonna 74/Newcastle – Tottenham 2-3 (1-3)/Wilson 2 – Ndombele 17, Kane 22, Son 45+3, Dyer 89 (og)/Monday22:00: (1.70) Arsenal (3.80) Crystal Palace (5.70)
