Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Preview

August 15, 2014
By: Deke Hardman

Arsene Wenger

Saturday’s Premier League action concludes at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal face managerless Crystal Palace.

After securing Champions League qualification for a seventeenth straight season with a fourth place league finish, the Gunners concluded their 2013/14 campaign by ending their much talked about trophy drought by beating Hull City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

They added the Community Shield to their trophy cabinet after thumping champions Manchester City last weekend, and they will be hoping to build on that result with a strong start in the league.

New signings Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy are all set to feature though goalkeeper David Ospina and Theo Walcott are out injured and World Cup winning duo Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski, who only recently returned to pre-season training, are not yet ready to feature.

Olivier Giroud is favourite to get the first goal of the game at 5.0 (4/1) with a variety of firms, while Sanchez is widely available at a price of 5.5 (9/2).

Most bookmakers have Arsenal at 1.25 (1/4) favourites to take all three points, with Palace as highly priced as the 15.0 (14/1) on offer from Bet 365, who price the draw at 6.5 (13/2).

With just two days until the big kick-off, the Eagles and Tony Pulis parted company leaving the London club on the lookout for their third manager in just twelve months.

Keith Millen will once again temporarily take the reins while the Palace board search for Pulis’s replacement and his first game provides the same opposition as when he last stepped into the role after Ian Holloway left the club last October.

Brede Hangeland, Martin Kelly and Frazier Campbell are all in line to make their debuts, while Adrain Mariappa should shake of a rib injury in time to be considered for selection.

Campbell is 18.0 (17/1) with Bet Victor to open the scoring, with Jason Puncheon a 23.0 (22/1) shot with the same firm.

Arsene Wenger’s men ran out 2-0 winners in both meetings between the sides last season, and the same outcome here is priced at 6.0 (5/1) with a variety of firms while the home win to nil is 1.85 (17/20) with William Hill.

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