Key events
50 min: Sarr scampers down the right, chasing after a fine reverse pass from Mateta. He’s got options in the middle but can’t find a team-mate with his cross. Just a corner … which hasn’t been taken yet, because Lewis-Skelly goes down, losing an unfair wrestling bout with the much taller Mateta. The referee wants a word.
48 min: That move started when Kamada intercepted Gabriel’s weak clearing header. Both Arsenal centre-backs have been strangely under par this evening.
46 min: Palace are quickly on the attack. Clyne crosses from the right. Mateta heads weakly goalwards. Sarr helps it on with a header of his own, towards the bottom left. Raya parries and Lewis-Skelly hacks clear. That should have been a goal.
Palace get the second half started. No changes. “Say what you will but this man Jesus has a flair for delivering at the right time,” begins krishnamoorthy v, regarding the resurrection of Arsenal’s number nine. “This may be the first time that one can be pardoned for confusing Christmas with Easter.”
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal
Palace have played pretty well. But Arsenal have too, and they’ve got the goal machine Gabriel Jesus, who has scored twice and hit the post to set up another. The only downside for the title-chasing visitors: Bukayo Saka went off with what looks like a hamstring issue.
45 min +4: Clyne crosses long from the right. Lerma races in to meet it, heading powerfully goalwards … but straight at Raya. That would have changed a couple of half-time team-talks.
45 min +3: Martinelli crosses low from the right. Palace make a meal of clearing it. Martinelli attempts to retrieve the loose ball and goes over in the environs of Mitchell. Arsenal want a penalty but they’re not getting one. It would have been pretty soft.
45 min +2: Raya once again takes his time over the restart, shifting the ball from one side of his six-yard box to the other before taking the goal kick. But the referee wasn’t watching, his back turned. Clever old Raya. We can paradoxically call that a fast one.
45 min +1: Mitchell makes good down the left and crosses for Mateta, who sends a poor header wide left and high.
45 min: … but Palace will have to wait for it, because there will be five additional first-half minutes.
44 min: That goal’s taken the wind out of Palace’s sail. Having looked good for a second equaliser, causing Arsenal’s defence a few flutters, they’re now chasing shadows and could do with hearing the half-time whistle.
42 min: Palace had been playing pretty well, too. In fact, before the passage of play that saw Arsenal hit the bar then almost immediately score their third, Palace had looked the more likely to score the next goal. But that’s football, and here we are. The sort of thing champions do.
40 min: Palace can’t deal with Jesus at all. This is an astonishing turnaround by the Arsenal striker. Inches away from consecutive hat-tricks. He’s still got time.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal (Havertz 38)
From the resulting corner, Gabriel crashes a header off the bar. So close. But no matter! Arsenal come again through Martinelli out on the right. He reaches the byline and clips a cross back for Jesus, who steers a header off the base of the left-hand post. The rebound falls to Havertz, who can’t miss from a yard out!
37 min: Lacroix miskicks in midfield and suddenly Jesus is away down the inside-right channel! Can he complete a second hat-trick against Palace in three days? Nope, because Lacroix makes up for his mistake by getting back and telescoping a leg to divert the ball out for a corner. That’s a brilliantly timed tackle. It had to be.
36 min: Timber is booked for taking ages over a throw. “Everyone jokes about how Jesus is making the difference for Arsenal at Christmas time, but we all know he’ll not perform at the business end of the season. Every year he goes missing completely after Easter.” David Wall, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the mince pies / chocolate eggs.
34 min: Hughes with the corner. He sends a flat, fast ball towards Lacroix, who flashes a header over from six yards. Another big chance for the defender, whose radar is a wee bit off it would seem.
33 min: Another Palace free kick, another queue on the edge of the Arsenal box. Kamada swings this one in. Jesus clears. Then Richards and Guehi battle to win a corner on the right. The hosts asking a few questions here.
32 min: Sarr spins Gabriel and is hauled back by the defender, who grabs a handful of his shirt. Into the book he goes. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box, awaiting Hughes’s free kick. In it comes. Havertz clears.
31 min: Now it’s Lewis-Skelly who cheaply ships possession. Arsenal aren’t coping too well with the Palace press. Sarr sashays down the right but his cross is easy pickings for Raya.
29 min: Palace push Arsenal back. Hughes and Guehi take turns to hook crosses in from the left. Gabriel heads the former away; Raya claims the latter. Palace have responded well since going behind again, and the Arsenal defenders don’t look particularly confident under the high ball.
27 min: Gabriel is fine to carry on.
26 min: Sarr wins a long ball down the middle and aims a hard shot towards goal. Gabriel takes it flush in the coupon, and play is stopped with Palace still on the attack. The home fans not happy, but what else could the referee do?
25 min: Trossard comes on for Saka, who might have done his hamstring. He was certainly holding the back of his right leg after attempting to whip a cross into the Palace box.
23 min: Saka can’t continue. He limps off … very slowly, much to the annoyance of Lacroix, who comes over to give both player and physio a piece of his mind. For a second, it looks like it might kick off, but Lacroix, having made his point, jogs on.
22 min: Saka goes down and sits there shaking his head. Always a worry for Arsenal.
21 min: A huge chance for Palace to level things up again! Saliba lets Sarr rob him 25 yards out. Sarr rolls forward for Mateta, who is one on one with Raya on the penalty spot! He has to score … but slams the ball straight at the keeper. Great save, having said that. Raya getting Saliba out of a big hole there.
20 min: Palace slow things down themselves with some careful passing around the back. “I was sceptical of Jesus coming back on Christmas last Wednesday, but ok,” writes Kieran McKintosh. “Maybe I’ll hold my tongue. Maybe it is Christmas after all.”
18 min: Can Palace find another quickfire equaliser? Kamada has a dig from 25 yards, but sends the ball miles over the bar. Raya then takes his sweet time over the restart, and is given a stern talking-to by the referee. No card. Not yet.
16 min: Sky flash up a graphic that has Arsenal leading the Most Goals From Corners in major leagues in the last two seasons. They’ve scored 24 times; the next best teams are Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach, who have a mere 18 each.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal (Jesus 14)
It’s that man again! Martinelli sends the corner long. Gabriel wins a downward header at the far stick. Partey tees up Jesus, rushing in from the right. Jesus slams into the right-hand side of the net, and that’s now five goals for Jesus against Palace in three days!
14 min: Now it’s Arsenal’s turn to respond, and Martinelli bustles down the left to win a corner. And you know what happens when Arsenal win a corner …
13 min: Palace had started cold, but that’s warmed Selhurst up. Can it all be traced back to Raya faffing around? That certainly got Palace tails up.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Arsenal (Sarr 11)
Palace come straight back at Arsenal. Mitchell, on the left touchline, finds Sarr infield. Sarr drives hard at Gabriel and Saliba down the inside-left channel, reaches the edge of the box, and lashes a creamy drive across Raya and into the bottom right. What a finish!
11 min: Raya, under pressure from the Palace press, attempts to play a pass down the middle from his own six-yard box. Hughes slides in to block, but the ball whistles inches past the right-hand post. So close. No matter, though, because …
10 min: Hughes swings the free kick, from a position left of centre, 30 yards out, into the mixer. Lacroix should do better than slam a header wide right and high from ten yards.
9 min: Mateta barges his way down the middle and draws a foul from Partey. A clip on the ankle. Partey’s fortunate not to go into the book. They’re making it up as they go along, kids.
8 min: Arsenal scoring from open play in the Premier League for the first time in a while, too. The first time in four games. Pretty much the perfect start for the title hopefuls.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal (Jesus 6)
Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick in midweek, and now he’s scored his first goal in the Premier League since January! Odegaard plays the aforementioned free kick short, and the ball’s worked out towards Martinelli on the right. Martinelli crosses. Gabriel and Mitchell compete, six yards out, but both miss the ball. It drops to Jesus, who can hardly miss, slotting into the bottom left. Scoring suddenly easy for the Brazilian!
5 min: Lewis-Skelly cuts in from the left and is again fouled by Hughes. No whistle this time. No matter, though, because Lerma comes across to complete the job. A free kick and a chance for the set-piece kings of the Premier League to load the box and cause some mayhem.
4 min: Now it’s Palace’s turn to have a wee go of the ball. Both teams sizing each other up.
3 min: Arsenal stroke it around the back for a bit, establishing some early authority.
2 min: Sarr pings a pass down the inside-right channel for Mateta, and things look promising for Palace. But then the whistle goes, because Hughes was judged to have fouled Lewis-Skelly in the build-up. A slightly soft free kick, but to be fair Palace don’t really complain.
Arsenal get into their pre-match huddle … then realise their captain and keeper aren’t in it. Odegaard and Raya eventually deign to turn up, the group hug is completed, and the visitors then kick off.
The teams are out! Festive cheer ringing out around Selhurst Park … but then it’s always agreeably noisy at one of the most atmospheric stadiums in the land. The home side sport their red and blue stripes, while Arsenal are in third-choice turquoise. It won’t be long now.
Pre-match postbag o’pessimism. “As a firm believer in the process, I wish it looked more like a clever ploy to have three left-sided defenders on the bench rather than having still a quite badly balanced squad five years in. Does Arteta have the same obsession with versatile full-backs that Wenger developed with micro skill-imps? And will it lead to his downfall when Zinchenko becomes our first choice no9?” – Paul Curievici
“Just showed that picture of Odegaard to my little brother, who said he looked like Captain America. And yeah, that seems to fit his description pretty well. He basically is our Captain America. Now all we need is a decent striker” = Kieran McKintosh
“I know that this meant to be the season of good cheer, but your preamble made me reflect on how true it is that on certain days, whatever happens, one still ends up far from the golden ticket. Indeed, on many days. Perhaps for the unlucky among us, on all days. I suppose the positive side of that is that it teaches us not to expect too much of life – like, perhaps, Gabriel Jesus scoring again” – Charles Antaki
Oliver Glasner talks to Sky. “We analysed the game [against Arsenal on Wednesday] … the quality of Arsenal … they always have the same patterns … Odegaard came on at half-time and most of their chances came from their right side … overloading … great passes … we have made one or two adjustments … we have to be more brave in possession … when you have just 20 percent possession the pressure increases and it is just a question of time when they find the pocket and the gaps … this happened in the second half … we need to have the ball and have them run after us … hopefully we do it better than at the Emirates … we were not fit enough at the beginning of the season … different reasons … we were struggling … but everyone stayed calm and players worked hard … we are still not at the end of where we want to be.”
Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky Sports. “We didn’t start in the right way [against Palace on Wednesday] conceding a sloppy goal … hopefully today will be very different … they are a really tough opponent … very well organised … we are fully prepared for it … the way [Gabriel Jesus] scored his goals, the confidence he brought to the team, he deserves to play again … [Declan Rice] has only had one training session … we lost [Raheem Sterling] yesterday, he felt something in training … we want to win our game and wait [for leaders Liverpool to play] but we have to win first.”
All of the earlier games in the Premier League have now finished …
… and Nottingham Forest’s win at Brentford means Arsenal start tonight’s game in fourth place. A draw will be enough to take the Gunners back into third, which is as high as they can go this evening. Crystal Palace will end the day where they began, in 15th place, whatever happens.
Crystal Palace make three changes in the wake of the League Cup meeting between these clubs; Arsenal make seven. But Carabao teams are not real teams, so let’s do this properly.
Palace make three changes to the starting XI named for last weekend’s 3-1 win at Brighton. Nathaniel Clyne, Daichi Kamada and Chris Richards are in. Trevoh Chalobah drops to the bench, while the suspended Daniel Muñoz and injured Eberechi Eze miss out altogether.
Arsenal make two changes from the side that began the goalless draw with Everton. Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus are back; Mikel Merino and Declan Rice are on the bench.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Lacroix, Richards, Guehi, Clyne, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Kamada, Mateta.
Subs: Turner, Ward, Nketiah, Schlupp, Chalobah, Doucoure, Devenny, Kporha, Agbinone.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Havertz, Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Trossard, Jorginho, Merino, Calafiori, Rice, Nwaneri.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
VAR: Michael Salisbury.
Preamble
If recent history between these two teams is anything to go by, this should be a shoo-in for Arsenal: the Gunners have won their last five matches against Crystal Palace, to the cumulative tune of 15-4, the most recent victory coming a mere three days ago in the League Cup. But nothing’s ever that simple, is it? Arsenal have dropped points in their last two Premier League matches, while Palace look to have rediscovered the form that closed out last season: they’re unbeaten in five in the League, and gave Arsenal a good game in that aforementioned League Cup tie earlier in the week. So this is set up nicely. Will Arsenal make up ground in the title race? Or can Palace snap their losing sequence in this London derby? We’ll find out soon enough. Kick-off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!
