After 16 games shouldn't Arsenal be doing better than this?
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The team news from Arsenal appears to be positive, in that it seems that the minor injury that took Declan Rice off the pitch was indeed minor and he is fit to play, as is Riccardo Calafiori.
This then leads the Metro to predict
Raya
Timber, Salbia, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly
Odegaard Rice Partey
Saka Havertz Trossard
although they seem a bit unsure if it will be Lewis-Skelly or Calafiori. And of course, there is the issue of Jesus and his hat-trick. If Arsenal get well-ahead in the game, or at the other extreme are struggling to take out Palace, he could come on as a substitute.
The Metro go with exactly the same line up as above. But what is often not considered is that running the same team against the same opposition two games running, does give the opposition an advantage, since they will be planning to overcome the defence as indeed they did twice in the mid-week match.
There will also be an extra focus on the VAR malarky given that there was no VAR available for the League Cup game. I suspect there could be appeals galore.
However what we should also remember is that prior to the defeat at Arsenal on the 18th, Palace had not lost in five league games (although three of those were draws). But then again prior to that run they did lose at home to Fulham.
However, although Palace are not safe from relegation being only four points above Ipswich in 19th, they do have the satisfaction that of the five teams below them, the majority are playing fairly poorly.
Palace’s current form puts them eighth in the last six games league and it is worth a peek at this table which comes from The Fishy….
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
15 Crystal Palace 16 3 7 6 17 21 -4 16
16 Everton 15 3 6 6 14 21 -7 15
17 Leicester City 16 3 5 8 21 34 -13 14
18 Ipswich Town 16 2 6 8 16 28 -12 12
19 Wolverhampton Wands 16 2 3 11 24 40 -16 9
20 Southampton 16 1 2 13 11 36 -25 5
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A couple of unsatisfactory results could plunge Palace right back into danger, though – they are just four points clear of the relegation zone – and they still have just the one Premier League home win to their name this season, which came against, well if I say an incompeent team with deluded fans and a supportive media you might guess who.
The match on Wednesday made it five straight wins for Arsenal against the Palace and things might get worse for the home team as Rice, Calafiori and Zinchenko are all fit to play./
Sports Mole offer us a lineup of….
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Partey, Rice;
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
By kick off today Palace will be aware of the result between Ipswich and Newcastle. If Newcastle win as expected it will ease further any feeling that they might get sucked into a relegation battle.
One last thought, at the moment we prepare this little piece for publication Manchester City are losing once again. It would be rather amusing if at the end of the season they didn’t actually qualify for Europe, and at long last the result of the 115 or so charges against them is published, and they are relegated to the Conference for their sins.
One can but hope.
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After 16 games shouldn't Arsenal be doing better than this?
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