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Crystal Palace is the Worst Possible Opponent for Arsenal to Face Next

By Josh Sippie

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Arsenal need a bounce back win like none other. They were completely flat and ineffective against a West Ham squad that we should be beating handily. Our next opponent is Crystal Palace and to say that I am not too terribly confident against the Eagles would be an understatement. This match has all the makings of trouble for a multitude of reasons.

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First of all, Crystal Palace is a tough customer and we struggled with them quite a bit last year. The Eagles are an incredibly physical team, especially on defense. They only have one defender under six foot tall and that is Adrian Mariappa at 5’10”. Scott Dann and Brede Hangeland are 6’4″ and 6’5″ respectively and they are some of the most physical defenders in the league.

Last year, Arsenal faced Crystal Palace on August 16th. The Gunners struggled to mount anything serious and had to squeeze a winning goal out in second half stoppage time to pull in a tough 2-1 win that, had it finished 1-1, would have felt like a well-earned draw.

In the second match-up, Arsenal were blessed with a fortuitous penalty call in the 8th minute and they squeezed out another just before half to coast to another difficult 2-1 victory. But the fact remained that Arsenal did not look strong against Crystal Palace and their high degree of physicality.

Not only that, but Crystal Palace still has the reputation of a team that should be beaten by a top-tier team like Arsenal. But Crystal Palace is not an easy team. They added Yohan Cabaye and Wilfried Zaha to boost an already growing squad.

Gooner’s are going to expect a win but it is not going to be pretty. Even if Arsenal does pull out the victory, it is going to be a tough win. It is not going to be a beautiful, in-control win that Arsenal had been showing all preseason. This Crystal Palace team does not allow that kind of play.

Arsenal will also have a struggle with who to start at striker. Olivier Giroud scored once against Palace last year but his physicality can be negated by the massive defensive line of the Eagles. On the other side of the spectrum, Theo Walcott’s runs may be useful, but he has already shown a knack for disappearing when the game gets tough. This is going to be a tough game. So who do Arsenal turn to when neither of their strikers provide a noticeable advantage?

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If this was an opponent like Chelsea or Manchester United or a team that has been formidable for years, the expectations would be lesser. It would stake Arsenal as the underdog and that usually brings out the best in the Gunners, when they seem to have their backs against the wall.

But against a team like Crystal Palace, the expectation is a win, and anything less will decimate what shreds of confidence are left. The pressure there is palpable.

Fortunately for the Gunners, Alexis will be back. Arsenal need this win more than they have needed any win in recent memory. This is a huge season for Arsene Wenger and his guys and they have a tough hurdle in Crystal Palace. We have to maintain our wits when going into this match. The Eagles are so far from a push over.

Next: 5 Things Arsenal need to win EPL

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