Emery Banks On Pepe’s Magic As Arsenal Host Crystal Palace

Unai Emery will hope that Nicolas Pepe can build on his match-winning brace against Vitoria de Guimaraes in the Europa League last time out as they host Crystal Palace in domestic action.

The Eagles, meanwhile, were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in their last game as they embark on a grueling run of fixtures, playing four of the top six and Leicester City in a five-game spell.

Arsenal were made to work for their victory in the Europa League in midweek, going behind twice to the Portuguese outfit and being forced to come from behind to win 3-2 at the Emirates.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace have enjoyed a strong start to their Premier League campaign thus far, sitting sixth in the table.

Just two defeats in their last six league games – both against top-six opposition – and back-to-back wins before their 2-0 defeat against Manchester City last time out have left them in a strong position.

However, the game against the reigning champions signaled the start of a punishing run of fixtures. The Eagles play Arsenal, Leicester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool in their next four games.

Head To Head

The Gunners have won just two of their last five against the Eagles and lost this corresponding fixture last season by a 3-2 scoreline, one of two humiliating defeats to Crystal Palace in the last two years – the other a 3-0 defeat in 2017.

However, prior to this patchy run, Arsenal had not been beaten by Palace in 14 games – a run that stretches back to 1995.

Additionally, there has not been a clean sheet in the last four meetings between these teams.

Possible Line Ups

Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac; Guendouzi, Xhaka; Pepe, Ceballos, Saka; Aubameyang

Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Tomkiins, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Zaha, Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur, Schlupp; Ayew

Betting Tips

The Gunners look far from convincing under Emery but have only lost twice this season – neither of which was at the Emirates. Expect Palace to score and the scoreline to be tight, but Arsenal should scrape another result.