Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Palace: 5 key players to watch — Please score soon

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 03: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on January 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 03: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on January 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 13: Georges-Kevin N’Koudou of Burnley is challenged by Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Burnley at Selhurst Park on January 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 13: Georges-Kevin N’Koudou of Burnley is challenged by Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Burnley at Selhurst Park on January 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

4. Luka Milivojevic

In these games where one of the top six welcomes a lesser side to their home ground, the pattern of play is fairly inevitable to determine: the home side dominates possession; the visitors sit deep. It is a game of attack versus defence: Can the big team break down the stubborn resilience of the small team? It is fair to assume that Saturday afternoon’s fixture will take on a similar shape.

In these games, perhaps the two most important players are the tempo-setting, deep-lying distributor of the attacking team and the leg-snapping, ball-winning, midfield destroyer of the defensive team. For Palace, that man is Luka Milivojevic.

Of Palace midfielders, Milivojevic leads all of them in tackles per game, clearances per game and blocks per game. Only Yohan Cabaye has made more interceptions per game, and the Serbian annoyer has made more fouls per game, at 2.1, than any other player in the Palace squad, irrespective of position.