Crystal Palace vs Arsenal prediction: Goals on the agenda at Selhurst Park | OneFootball

Crystal Palace and Arsenal meet again on Saturday, this time at Selhurst Park, in the Premier League’s late kick-off (5.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

It comes just three days after the two sides went head-to-head in the League Cup quarter-finals when the Gunners ran out 3-2 winners, thanks to a second-half hat trick from Gabriel Jesus.

Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Palace the lead at The Emirates and former Gunner Eddie Nketiah made it a nervy finish as he scored against his former club with five minutes remaining.

We expect quite a few changes from the Arsenal starting lineup in particular and Jesus will be hoping he has done enough to make his first Premier League start since 23 November.

With Chelsea and Liverpool not playing until Sunday, Arsenal could close the gap to the Blues to one point and go just three points behind the leaders Liverpool, who would have two games in hand.

The football betting sites have the Gunners as third favourites for the league title at 4/1 behind Chelsea at 7/2 and Liverpool at 17/20.

After drawing their last two league matches against Everton and Fulham, Mikel Arteta will want to see more from his side, especially in front of goal, so Jesus’s return to scoring form couldn’t have come at a better time - I’ll resist the temptation to crack any Christmas jokes!

The Gunners needed two set pieces against Manchester United as they struggled to break the deadlock and failed to score against Everton, despite five shots on target and scored just once against Fulham.

The good news though is that they are still creating chances and not every keeper can be in inspired form when they come up against Arsenal.

Arteta’s side have lost just two of their last 19 away league games against Palace, winning 10 and drawing seven. The two league defeats both ended 3-0 in April 2017 and April 2022 - when Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha were all on target.

Twelve places and 14 points separate the two sides in the Premier League table but Palace go into the game with just two defeats in their last 10 games, which is quite a turnaround after three defeats from three games against Everton, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest saw the pressure mount on manager Oliver Glasner.

Since those defeats they have picked up 13 points in the league, to move them up to 15th place and four points above the relegation zone.

Palace have only beaten Arsenal six times in 56 attempts, and we can’t see them adding to that tally on Saturday.

Betting apps have the Gunners at 8/13 for the win, Palace 5/1 and you can get 16/5 on a draw - a result that has happened 16 times so far between the two sides.

Five of the last seven meetings have seen more than 2.5 goals, including Wednesday night’s fixture, and you can get 17/20 on it happening again.

Mateta’s goal at The Emirates took his tally to 26 goals for club and country so far in 2024. Since joining Palace, first on loan, before making the move from Mainz permanent in January 2022 he has scored 28 goals in 109 appearances and seven assists.

After keeping nine clean sheets in 10 Premier League away games between February and September, Arsenal have conceded in each of their last six on the road a statistic Palace and Mateta will be well aware of.

The Frenchman has faced the Gunners four times and scored twice and betting sites have him at 10/1 to score first, as he did on Wednesday, 11/1 to score last and 7/2 on him scoring anytime which is a good return.

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