Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates on Monday night for their 8th game of the season. The Gunners are in good form having won 3 of their last 4 league games. However, former Arsenal player and part of the invincibles, Patrick Vieira, has been a man on a mission with the Eagles. Having already beaten their London rivals Spurs this season, Palace will be aiming for similar results against Arsenal.
There are no notable injury absentees in the Arsenal squad except for Granit Xhaka as the Swiss will not be available till February 2022.
Predicted 4-2-3-1 Arsenal Line Up Vs Palace
Defence
Aaron Ramsdale has solidified his spot as the No. 1 at Arsenal and will continue between the sticks on Monday.
Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been effortless this season. They complement each other well at either side of the Gunners’ defence and it is imperative that both of them will start against Palace. Gabriel might have been overlooked by Brazil in terms of National call up but Arteta cannot afford to do any of that. He will partner up with Ben White and will look to continue this masterful rebuild of Arsenal defence.
Midfield
Arteta has been deploying a flat three-man midfield in his last four games. However, considering the counter-attacking prowess of Crystal Palace, he will want to protect his defence with a double pivot. Thomas Partey was in great form for Ghana scoring in both of their matches and he will start alongside youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga. The Belgian has been playing the Granit Xhaka role very effectively whenever given an opportunity by Arsenal.
Martin Odegaard will start just ahead of the pivot and will look to link up with his forward teammates. Hale End graduates, Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have grown into this season as it progressed. Both of them will start with Emile on the left and Bukayo on the right-hand side of the midfield.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be an option for Mikel Arteta from the bench if the latter decides to tighten up the midfield later on.
Attack
Aubameyang scored a poacher of a goal for his country Gabon in the international games. He looked sharp throughout the match otherwise. He will look to continue on the same form going into this gameweek. Aubameyang’s pace might have taken a toll these days but his finishings seems to have more conviction.
Lacazette was given some minutes against Brighton in the last game. He will look for similar opportunities in case the Palace defence decides to sit deep and not allow Aubameyang to run beyond them. The same goes for Nicolas Pepe, who will look to come on as a sub later on and cause mayhem with his blistering pace.
