Arsenal vs Crystal Palace 21/04/19

21 April 2019

Encouraged by a 1-0 road win over Napoli in the Europa League, Arsenal return to the Premier League action as they welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates Stadium.

After booking a place in the EL semi-final, the hosts can now focus on securing the PL top-four finish as they currently sit fourth and have the same points tally as Chelsea although holding one game in hand. Far more comfortable at home, the North Londoners have gobbled 44 of a total of 66 of their PL points at Emirates (66.67%). What’s more, the Gunners have racked up an eight-game home winning run across all competitions in the build-up to this meeting, netting 2+ match goals each time while conceding just two goals in the process. Outstandingly, Unai Emery’s men have won all ten of their previous PL home outings, with seven of those triumphs coming against teams from the bottom half of the table.

Meanwhile, it will be a daunting prospect for the visitors to pick up all three points here considering they’ve lost five of six of their previous visits to this venue (D1, L5), scoring one goal or less across all those meetings. Also, the Glaziers come into this encounter off the back of a 3-1 home loss to Manchester City, which was their fourth defeat in their previous five H2Hs with teams positioned in the upper half of the table (W1, L4). Surprisingly though, the Eagles have grabbed more points on the road this campaign (23 of a total of 39 – 58.97%) pulling off three victories in their last four PL road clashes (W3, L1). Another worrying fact for Roy Hodgson is that Crystal Palace secured four points in five away H2Hs with the PL’s top-six sides (W1, D1, L3) allowing 2+ match goals four times across those fixtures.