A Premier League-leading Arsenal side on an upwards trajectory welcome an ailing Crystal Palace outfit to the Emirates Stadium for Sunday afternoon's London derby.
Mikel Arteta's Gunners are seeking a stellar seventh straight victory across all competitions, whereas Oliver Glasner's Eagles have failed to win any of their last three domestically or continentally.
Match preview
Set-piece records have become bread and butter for Arsenal since Nicolas Jover's arrival, and another dead-ball feat fell at the might of the Gunners in the eighth gameweek of the 2025-26 Premier League season, where Fulham were conquered from a corner.
Leandro Trossard's close-range strikesettled a tight London derby 1-0in the Gunners' favour, as Arteta's men registered their 10th set-piece goal in just eight Premier League games this season, the quickest time a team has ever hit double figures in dead-ball goals in the competition.
Proving the naysayers wrong for the time being, Arsenal's set-pieces remain as sustainable as ever and have carried them to the top of the Premier League rankingsover a wounded Liverpool; instead, Manchester City are now their closest challengers, sitting three points behind.
Coincidentally, Arteta's men could match a record set by the Spaniard's former employers this weekend, when Arsenal will aim to become just the second team to go three successive Premier League games without facing a shot on target, after the Citizens themselves from May to August 2014.
Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid did at least force David Raya into a save in midweek, but the goalkeeper was otherwise a spectator in a 4-0 Champions League crushing, where Arsenal exhibited open-play prowess alongside their set-piece specialities.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner pictured on September 27, 2025
Also relying on a dead-ball situation to save their bacon in Premier League gameweek eight, Palace had a Jean-Philippe Mateta penalty to thank for an engrossing six-goal spectacular with Bournemouth, where the Frenchman joined an elite crowd with his 97th-minute spot kick.
Having already struck twice against the Cherries, Mateta followed in the footsteps of two former Arsenal forwards - Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry - to become just the third French player to score multiple hat-tricks in the Premier League, although he did spurn a fabulous chance for a fourth right at the death.
Speaking of wasted opportunities, Palace's October plight continued in shock circumstances in midweek, where a horror mistake from Jaydee Canvot and a glut of missed openings from the FA Cup winners handed AEK Larnaca a 1-0 Conference League win.
From going 19 games unbeaten in all tournaments to losing two of their last three, the ninth-placed Eagles have lost their defensive steel in recent weeks and head to the Emirates boasting just one clean sheet from their last seven games in all tournaments, while conceding six across their last three.
A run of five losses from their six most recent games against Arsenal in the Premier League does not stand the Eagles in good stead either, although the outlier was last season's Emirates encounter, where another late Mateta intervention rescued a 2-2 draw for the FA Cup holders.
Arsenal Premier League form:
L
W
D
W
W
W
Arsenal form (all competitions):
W
W
W
W
W
W
Crystal Palace Premier League form:
W
D
W
W
L
D
Crystal Palace form (all competitions):
W
D
W
L
D
L
Team News
Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori pictured on September 13, 2025
Thanks to Piero Hincapie's return from a groin problem on Tuesday night - when the Bayer Leverkusen loanee was an unused substitute - Arsenal are only missing their four known knee victims for this weekend's London derby.
Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke should not return this side of the international break, while Gabriel Jesus - Palace's nemesis from 2024-25 - is targeting a return from his ACL rupture towards the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.
After a statement display in midweek, 10 of the 11 Arsenal starters from the Atletico annihilation ought to be retained, with the exception of Riccardo Calafiori replacing Myles Lewis-Skelly on the left-hand side of the backline.
Likewise, it should also be as you were on the fitness front for Crystal Palace, who are still working without Caleb Kporha (back), Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Chadi Riad (knee) for the visit to the league leaders.
An evening to forget for centre-back Canvot on Thursday saw the new signing play a poor backpass to set Larnaca away for the game's only goal, before being hooked on the 60-minute mark, and Chris Richards will undoubtedly return to the XI this weekend.
Ex-Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah came on for Canvot in the Conference League, but the Hale End product has little chance of displacing Mateta, who has scored eight of his last nine PL goals in London.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Pino, Sarr; Mateta
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We say: Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace
Working with two days' additional rest, boasting one of the meanest defences Europe has to offer and also an abundance of attacking options, Arsenal should have little to fear this weekend.
Palace are seldom blown away and will be no pushovers at the Emirates, but Arteta's backline appears unbreakable right now, and the Gunners can always rely on the corner flag if all else fails.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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