FC Arsenal – Crystal Palace
With the Champions League semi-final against PSG approaching, Arsenal cannot afford to slip up: against Crystal Palace, currently 12th in the table, only a win at the Emirates will secure second place and keep them within sight of Liverpool. Leif Smerud’s visitors are without the suspended Chris Richards, while Eberechi Eze is under particular scrutiny after his missed penalty in Newcastle. Arteta has announced cautious rotation – Bukayo Saka is doubtful, but Leandro Trossard and teenager Ethan Nwaneri could come into the starting line-up.
Arsenal – Crystal Palace info
- Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
- Date and time: 23.04.2025, 21:00
- Competition: Premier League (Matchday 34)
Arsenal form & record check
Arsenal currently appear remarkably solid. Their recent 4-0 win against Ipswich underlined the depth of their squad, while their two victories over Real Madrid (3-0, 2-1) demonstrate their international maturity. In their last five games, the Londoners have never gone into the break trailing, but have always scored at least two goals – around 80% of which came after the break. The only blemish: Liverpool are 13 points ahead, but Arsenal are still comfortably ahead of Newcastle.
Despite a long list of absentees – Gabriel Magalhães, Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Havertz, Gabriel Jesus – Arteta is likely to stick with a 4-3-3 formation. The back four are likely to be Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, and Lewis-Skelly. Rice and Partey will anchor the midfield, with Odegaard pulling the strings. Martinelli, Trossard, and probably Nwaneri will start up front, with Saka being rested and used as a super sub at most.
Crystal Palace Form & Record Check
Crystal Palace are stumbling from one ray of hope to another setback. Despite being a man down, the defense held firm in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth, but the 5-0 defeat at Newcastle exposed their weaknesses against top teams. Two draws, two defeats and one win from their last five games mean a lack of consistency. Particularly problematic is the fact that Palace were behind at half-time in four of those games, while they lack efficiency up front. The gap to the bottom is small, so every point counts.
Oliver Glasner is once again planning to use a 3-4-2-1 formation. Goalkeeper Henderson will be protected by Richards’ replacement Guéhi, Clyne and a withdrawn Muñoz in a back three. Muñoz (right) and Mitchell (left) will cover a lot of ground on the wings. Wharton and Hughes will play in the center, with Eze and Sarr providing creativity behind Mateta. Long-term absentees Doucouré, Lacroix and Riad limit the options for rotation.
H2H Arsenal – Crystal Palace Head-to-head & statistics
Five head-to-head matches, five Arsenal wins – the trend couldn’t be clearer. Since March 2023, the Gunners have always scored, often multiple times: they have scored at least three goals four times, including a 5-1 win in December 2024. Palace have failed to score except for this consolation goal. The statistics therefore offer little hope of a surprise, especially as Arsenal regularly step up a gear in the second half.
