For our Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace prediction, we're going for a 2-0 win for the home side.
Arsenal's quest for an elusive Premier League title continues this weekend as they face Crystal Palace at the Emirates this weekend.
Arsenal currently sit top of the Premier League with twenty-one wins, three draws and three losses from twenty-seven games this season.
The Gunners' season is entering its most crucial phase as they find themselves five points ahead of rivals Manchester City with just eleven games remaining.
The Premier League is now their sole focus as far as trophies are concerned having been eliminated in the Europa League by Sporting Clube de Portugal on Thursday night on penalties following a 3-3 aggregate stalemate.
It was a poor performance by Mikel Arteta's side at the Emirates on Thursday having made a string of unforced errors throughout the game which highlighted their inability to get into their usual groove.
Whether that will worry Arteta or not remains to be seen as his side's form is otherwise pretty encouraging having won their last five Premier League games on the bounce with their most recent league outing seeing them deliver an impressive performance in a 3-0 win away at Fulham.
The likelihood is that no alarm bells will be ringing for the Spaniard and he'll fully expect his side to make amends here as they face a side struggling for form.
They can now count on the services of striker Gabriel Jesus once again, too, with the Brazilian back up and running as he works his way to full fitness so his addition will be a huge boost to their title hopes.
Arsenal have only lost once at the Emirates in the league this season and that was to Manchester City, such a strong home record combined with Crystal Palace's struggles suggests this should be a routine win for The Gunners.
Crystal Palace currently sit 12th in the Premier League with six wins, nine draws and twelve losses from twenty-seven games this season.
Palace are entering this game amidst a period of turmoil having controversially parted ways with manager Patrick Vieira during the week, a decision that has not been unanimously well received by fans and media alike.
The general feeling is that while Palace are currently on a poor run of form it's the first extended down period they've encountered during Vieira's tenure and considering the success he's had since his arrival he deserved the chance to turn it around.
Alas, though, he will not be granted that fortune and Paddy McCarthy will instead take to the dugout at the Emirates this weekend as acting head coach.
In fairness to the decision makers at Palace there is some turnaround needed at Selhurt Park as The Eagles haven't won a single game in 2023 without scoring a goal in any of their last four games. They also went three consecutive matches without a shot on target, a first in the Premier League, before rectifying that in their most recent game - a 1-0 defeat to rivals Brighton.
Palace are blessed with enough quality to stay in the Premier League and the likelihood is they only need roughly three more wins to ensure survival, but given the stakes at hand one can sympathise with why Vieira was abruptly dismissed.
This weekend will unlikely yield any immediate benefit from Vieira's sacking, though, as they will probably fall to another defeat at the hands of the league leaders.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
