Palace v Arsenal

Selhurst Park, Saturday 12.45pm

Story so far

Two stunning goals from Fulham saw Crystal Palace continue their slow start to the season as they fell to a 1-4 defeat at Selhurst Park.

Palace looked to have control thanks to Adrian Mariappa’s goal inside 7 minutes but a wonder strike from Pajtim Kasami changed the complexion of the game and Palace struggled to regain a foothold. With Ian Holloway resigning on Wednesday evening, this weekend’s match-up with Arsenal could be a chance for the club to start this season afresh.

Palace supporters knew they were in for a tough task upon promotion to the Premier League, with some of the world’s most vaunted attacking players coming to Selhurst Park to test the Eagles’ mettle.

So far though Palace’s players seem to be standing up well to the challenge, with 7 players have tackle success rates of 75% or above according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Captain Mile Jedinak’s reading of the game continues to be superb this season, his defensive contributions in the Palace vital to his side. Only Manchester United’s Michael Carrick can better his 31 interceptions to date according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Jason Puncheon’s shooting has been somewhat wayward of late. The winger has only managed to get 14.3% of his 7 shots on-target, a disappointing stat for one of Southampton’s most consistent players last season.

Whoever takes over the hotseat at Selhurst Park will have to address an inability to fashion a serious number of chances in front of goal so far this season. So far only Dwight Gayle numbers in double figures for the season (10) and even he has a shot accuracy rate of just 30%.

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Barclay’s Premier League with a solid 4-1 win over Norwich last weekend. Mesut Ozil grabbed a brace in a game graced by one the finest goals seen at the Emirates by Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey grabbing what is becoming his almost obligatory goal to give the scoresheet some extra polish.

Ramsey’s well-taken goal against Norwich was a strike by a player brimming with confidence, something that is coming from the standard of his all-round play this season. No other player has successfully completed more tackles than him (39) and to top it off, his 31 attacking contributions (total shots, assists, dribbles, crosses) is more than the next 13 players behind him in the tackle stats.

Frontman Olivier Giroud has been praised from almost every corner for his much improved play this season, the Frenchman displaying the confidence in his ability to let fly much more often this term. He currently sits joint second on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for total attempts on goal with 22.

Unsurprisingly in Giroud and Mesut Ozil, Arsenal also have two of the league’s most consistent assist providers. Both are ranked joint first on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 4. You can find Giroud at an industry best 9/4 at 888sport.com to score at any time.

While Mikel Arteta may not have been the most noticeable member of the Arsenal squad so far this season, he is apparently their most effective distributor of the ball. For player to have completed more than 100 passes in the opponent’s half, only Manchester City’s David Silva has done so at a better rate than Arteta’s average of 1.87 per minute.

Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at fantasy.premierleague.com or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14.

Team news

Palace Team News

After the departure of Ian Holloway this week, Keith Millen takes over team selection duties, as the Eagles start their search for a permanent replacement.

Millen will be boosted by no new injury concerns, with Jonathan Parr battling to replace Dean Moxey at left back. Paddy McCarthy is very close to being available for selection.

It will be interesting to see whether Millen changes the side much from the team which lost 4-1 to Fulham on Monday night.

Marouane Chamakh will be desperate for a start against his old club, meanwhile Cameron Jerome, and Barry Bannan didn't even feature on the bench for the Fulham match.

Provisional squad: Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Delaney, Mariappa, Campana, Guedioura, Bannan, Thomas, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Chamakh, Jerome, Gayle, Puncheon, O’Keefe, Bolasie, Phillips, Kebe, Price.

Arsenal Team News

Mathieu Flamini will return for Arsenal’s game against Crystal Palace tomorrow having sat out the midweek defeat because of concussion.

The Frenchman is back in the squad for the trip to Selhurst Park with manager Arsene Wenger saying, “Flamini is available because he had no basic injury – it was just a precaution."

Jack Wilshere will have a fitness test after being substituted during Arsenal's Champions League match against Dortmund with an ankle injury.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"Ian had a great speech with them before they trained.

"You want to get the players lively in training but you could see a lot of sadness around. We've got to lift that sadness in training tomorrow.

"It's a fresh start for everyone. I've got no personal issues with the lads. I enjoy working with them and enjoyed working with them today. I want a reaction, of course I do. The club need a reaction.

"They are not doing it for me. I've told them I'm not looking for the job. The new manager will be coming in and it is about impressing them. That starts Saturday."

Arsene Wenger

"I think it is very harsh on Ian Holloway because he has done exceptionally well with Crystal Palace to get them up to the Premier League,"

"It is very difficult to do that. I think it is very early to separate with Ian Holloway because I think he has exceptional talent to manage a football team.

"He is a football man. He has something that belongs to him that is special. You feel there is something in there that can take people on board with him.

"When you want to win with a passion, defeat can drain you down and that can happen to anybody."

Jack Wilshere

"We can't let this result [Dortmand defeat in the Champions League] affect us now, especially in the Premier League where we are on a great run,"

"It will be tough away at Palace, it always is, they will fight for every ball and it will be a different game from Dortmund, but we still have to bounce back straight away."

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Arsenal - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
1st	8	6	1	1	19

Full league table

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Arsenal - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	6	1	1	18	9

Full form table

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
14/02/2005	League	Arsenal	5 - 1	Crystal Palace
06/11/2004	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Arsenal
25/02/1998	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Arsenal
21/02/1998	League	Arsenal	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
15/02/1998	FA Cup	Arsenal	0 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

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Last meeting

Arsenal 5-1 Palace

Monday February 14 2005

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Cygan, Clichy, Pires (Fabregas, 80), Vieira, Edu (Flamini, 61), Reyes, Bergkamp (Van Persie, 79), Henry

Subs not used: Senderos, Almunia

Bookings: Vieira

Goals: Bergkamp 32, Reyes 35, Henry 39, Vieira 54, Henry 77

Palace: Kiraly, Boyce, Hall, Sorondo, Granville, Routledge (Lakis, 64), Riihilahti (Leigertwood, 31), Hughes, Soares, Johnson, Freedman (Kolkka, 64)

Subs not used: Speroni, Borrowdale

Bookings: Riihilahti, Sorondo

Goal: Johnson 63 (pen)

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