Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: 5 key players to make it three straight

2. Nicolas Pepe

Given that Nicolas Pepe is a bit of a wildcard, he’s always going to show up among the most important players simply because he has the ability to do so much. For better or worse. No one else is as self-sustaining as he is. This man can dribble through defenses and curl beauties into the top shelf.

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That is, if he’s on his game. When he’s not, he’s liable to receive the ball and promptly give it away before he can even bypass a single defender.

That said, He’s currently rocking out with five goals and five assists. So that murky start that everyone was worried about is dead and gone. He’s been on a roll lately and if that roll can continue here and he can do the same thing he’s been doing, even if it’s only for an hour or so, then this attack has an angle that Crystal Palace just can’t deal with.

Plus, if he could outshine Wilfried Zaha and get everyone to shut up about it, that would be great. A nice little side dish to the main course.

Finally, No. 1.