We head across the capital on Monday night for a meeting with Crystal Palace, as both teams aim to make it two wins from two to kick off the campaign.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles beat Sheffield United on the opening weekend, but have only managed one win from their last eight encounters with us and lost both meetings last season.
Those were two of 10 successes we had in London derbies in 2022/23 - an English league record - and we’ll be hoping that we can continue our derby day dominance when we head to SE25 for our first away day of the season.
Roy’s return reaping rewards
Eyebrows were raised when Hodgson was parachuted back into Palace in March to help them stave off relegation, but he won five and drew three of his 10 matches to eventually achieve a highly-respectable 11th-place finish.
They remained unbeaten at home in that time, and in contrast to Hodgson’s usual pragmatic style, his team are averaging 15.7 shots per game under the former England boss, five more than they were having under Patrick Vieira, with 24 were recorded in their win against the Blades.
That was despite the summer departure of talisman Wilfried Zaha who joined Galatasaray on a free transfer, with Luka Milivojevic, James McArthur and Jack Butland also departing. £17 million man Matheus Franca is the only big-money recruit from Flamengo, while Jefferson Lerma switched from Bournemouth after his contract expired. Hodgson will also be delighted that Michael Olise spurned the advances of Chelsea to sign a new deal on Thursday.
What the managers say
Arteta on Hodgson’s impact: “Hats off to him. I told him personally when I saw him last week. It’s not only what he’s done, it’s how he’s done it. He’s so natural and he’s still so humble, so intelligent and the way he manages the team, the results that he’s having - it’s just excellent.
“He’s somebody to look very closely at of how he's done it because it's amazing what he’s done. If we are invited, we have a drink together because it's always fascinating to listen to him and the people that have been alongside him for a long time because they’re the ones that know him really well.” - read every word from Mikel's pre-match press conference
Hodgson: “We’re expecting to play a potential Premier League winner. We’re expecting to see them come here and produce all their skills, and I think they will show us respect to make certain they bring their best game to Selhurst Park, unfortunately.
“It means we will have to bring our best game to Selhurst Park and hope our fans can weave that magic that they do in getting extra ounces of energy and play from the team that maybe I, as a manager, can’t expect them to do.”
Team news
Jurrien Timber is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining an ACL injury against Nottingham Forest, and joins Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny in the treatment room who are also recovering from knee issues.
Oleksandr Zinchenko continues his comeback from a calf problem that saw him ruled out throughout our pre-season campaign, with Arteta saying that he is close to a return, while David Raya is likely to be included in our matchday squad after completing his move from Brentford.
Marc Guehi will be available after coming off against Sheffield United with cramp, but Olise will be missing after tearing his hamstring in action for France’s under-21s in the summer.
Franca will also have to wait for his debut after sustaining a back injury in training, while Will Hughes picked up a knee injury on their pre-season tour and is also out, as is youngster Malcolm Ebiowei.
Facts and stats
In only one previous top-flight season have the Eagles started with two wins in their first two matches, doing so in 2020/21 under Roy Hodgson.
Palace have only won their opening home Premier League game of the season once in 14 previous attempts (D3 L10), beating Southampton 1-0 in 2020/21.
Palace had 24 shots on MD1 against Sheffield United, the most in an away Premier League game that Opta has on record (since 2003/04) for the Eagles. Since Roy Hodgson returned in April, they are averaging 15.7 shots per game in the Premier League, just over five more shots per game than they were having under Patrick Vieira in the competition (10.5).
Bukayo Saka has featured in each of our last 81 Premier League games. If he plays in this match, he will equal Paul Merson's club record of 82 in a row in the competition, set between February 1995 and February 1997.
Odsonne Edouard scored the winner against Sheffield United last week – the only player to score in Palace’s first two games of a Premier League season is Wilfried Zaha in 2020/21.
After Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka scored against Forest in our opening game, the last time an Englishman scored in both of our first two Premier League games was Ian Wright in 1997/98.
Match officials
David Coote oversees this game, having last refereed us in the 2-2 draw against West Ham United last April where he gave both teams a penalty. That was one of five Gunners games he took charge of last term, all of which were away from home and we won three of them.
We have lost just two of the nine total games he has officiated, which is the same amount Palace have won under his watch in 12 attempts. His first game of the season also saw him award two spot kicks in Brighton’s 4-1 win over new boys Luton Town.
- Referee: David Coote
- Assistants: Marc Perry and Wade Smith
- Fourth official: Thomas Bramall
- VAR: Jarred Gillett
- Assistant VAR: Neil Davies
Recent visits to Selhurst Park
Last season saw us end a poor run at the home of the Eagles as we ran out 2-0 victors on the opening night of the 2022/23 campaign. Gabriel Martinelli headed us in front on 20 minutes, before Guehi diverted a Saka cross into his own goal five minutes from time to ensure we got off to the perfect start.
Our only previous win in our last five visits came in May 202. In what seemed to be Hodgson’s Selhurst swansong, injury-time strikes from Nicolas Pepe and Martinelli claimed a 3-1 win and spoil the veteran manager’s party.
Sandwiched between those was a 3-0 defeat when Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Zaha all get on the scoresheet, with Ayew also netting in a 1-1 draw back in January 2020, cancelling out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early opener in a game where the Gabon international was also dismissed.
Remember five memorable wins at Crystal Palace, including fine displays from Kevin Campbell, Chris Kiwomya and Alexis Sanchez.
Breakdown Live
Join us on Arsenal.com and the official app an hour before kick-off on Monday night when Nicole Holliday and Adrian Clarke will be live from Emirates Stadium to bring you the best pre-match build-up for any Gooner!
They'll evaluate our win against Forest, as well as check out how our academy teams got on in their season openers, and have an in-depth look at what the acquisition of Raya means for us.
Then from 8pm onwards, live commentary from Selhurst Park comes from Dan Roebuck and Josh James who will keep you up to date with all the on-pitch proceedings, so make sure you tune in!
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