Crystal Palace vs Arsenal preview: How to watch, predicted lineups, score prediction & injury updates

The penultimate Premier League fixture of the season awaits Arsenal on Wednesday night as they make the short journey to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace. Here is the match preview.

Hopefully the wait in between the previous fixture has acted as a litmus test for supporters as they prepare for an entire campaign of week-long breaks between matches. That’s the way it’s looking anyway, with four points separating the Gunners from Tottenham and West Ham in sixth and seventh respectively.

Any embarrassingly faint hopes of a Europa League berth were put to bed when those guys up the road beat Wolves 2-0 last time out, as unless Aston Villa and Leicester can do Arsenal an almighty favour, coupled with West Brom and Southampton doing likewise against West Ham and Arsenal securing maximum points from now until the end, it ain’t happening. It was never going to.

There is still the prestigious UEFA Europa Conference League to play for, which will be secured should Arsenal somehow scramble their way into seventh spot and Leicester don’t drop out of the top five.

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Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Premier League preview of Wednesday night’s clash

Winning is all that matters and wherever six points from the next two matches may take Mikel Arteta’s side no longer rests in their hands. It hasn’t for a while.

It’s Crystal Palace who are next up on the firing line as Roy Hodgson looks set for his Selhurst Park swansong. The Eagles will welcome supporters into their south London home as restrictions on gatherings in the UK start to ease, which will make for a raucous atmosphere from their famously buoyant and lively home crowd.

Coming into this match Arsenal have the unwelcome record of being winless against Palace in any of their past five matches – the longest unbeaten stretch the Eagles have over Arsenal in their history. Wednesday’s visitors also have a penchant for giving away a penalty, conceding four in the last eight meetings.

Fortunately no Shkodran Mustafi or David Luiz for this one.

Building into the next season, in matches widely considered as dead rubbers, the need to finish strongly to both lift spirits and project a slightly more enticing proposition to transfer targets is key, and, so is winning. Three points is always nice.

How to Watch on TV

When Is Kick Off? Wednesday 19 May
What Time Is Kick Off? 19:00 (GMT)
Where Is it Played? Selhurst Park
TV Channel/Live Stream? BT Sport (UK) fuboTV (USA)
Referee? Anthony Taylor

Arsenal Team News vs Crystal Palace

There are some curious developments in regards to certain players’ fitness ahead of Wednesday, with Arteta set to provide the latest either in his press conference on Tuesday or with the club releasing a statement.

They mainly centre around David Luiz and Hector Bellerin, both of whom are set to depart north London this summer. The Brazilian will not sign a new contract when his current deal expires, and is currently nursing a hamstring problem suffered against Newcastle.

It could be a similar story for Bellerin, who was forced off against Chelsea with his own hamstring issue, having only briefly come on as a substitute and making a fine cameo appearance. Set to leave the club, that may also be the last we see of him in red and white.

Granit Xhaka is another uncertainty after picking up a groin problem during warm-up practice against Villarreal, and with little to play for there seems to be no need to risk him at this late stage of the campaign.

Mat Ryan could make an appearance in net as the club continue to mull over a new deal for the Australian, while there are some decisions to make in defence with Arteta likely to revert to a back four having switched his system around at Stamford Bridge.

In terms of the hosts, James McArthur, Connor Wickham, Nathan Ferguson, Mamadou Sakho and Patrick van Aanholt are all absent through injury although Nathaniel Clyne is set to have recovered from a sickness bug.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace: Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Dann, Mitchell; Eze, Milivojevic, Riedewald Townsend; Benteke, Zaha

Arsenal: Ryan; Chambers, Holding, Mari, Tierney; Partey, Elneny, Saka, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Aubameyang

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Score Prediction

Three wins on the spin! That’s almost unheard of. And, to make it juicier, Arsenal have now won three Premier League away games in a row without conceding for the first time since 2013!

After a season of record-breaking tragedies, it’s nice to finally read some positive stats for a change.

Can Arsenal continue their hot streak? Palace, famously dreadful in front of goal, hit Aston Villa for three in their previous match with a solid 3-2 victory over Aston Villa, who admittedly have fallen off a cliff since Jack Grealish’s injury.

Being the Gunners’ bogey side doesn’t bode well for Wednesday but in a season where away form has been almost every side’s strong point, this is far from a done deal. However, 6,500 supporters will be on show in south London, something that is sure to boost the players’ spirits without the added incentive of putting on a show for Hodgson’s final home game in charge.

The Eagles will look to keep things tight at the back and get their two most exciting attacking talents, Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha, on the ball whenever they can break out. The former is going to have a wonderful career in this division while the latter is enjoying his best scoring return in the Premier League to date.

Even Christian Benteke is finding the back of the net.

A physical encounter awaits for Arsenal and victory at Selhurst Park will come down to ensuring they can ride the challenges in the central third. Start winning some duels, which this side rarely does, and the quality in attack will see them through.

Might be a close one, though.

Score Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal