The Gunners (12-4-4, 40 points) are fourth in the Premier League rankings this weekend following a two-week break that allowed Mikel Arteta’s players to depart for a brief training camp in Dubai.
The hiatus came after three straight defeats in all categories, including back-to-back league losses and a 2-0 FA Cup home loss to Liverpool to begin 2024.
The hope is that the break will allow Arteta’s team to refocus and stay in the title chase. Despite their recent performance, Arsenal is only five points behind league leaders Liverpool.
“I think it gave us an opportunity to look at things with a bit of perspective and analyse what we’ve been doing, and I will take a lot of positives from the first six months of the competition,” Arteta said of the trip. “Even if results haven’t gone our way in the last few games, when you look at what we have created
The Gunners have only scored five goals in their last seven matches across all competitions, after scoring 18 in the previous seven. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka leads the Premier League with six goals, while front-line partner Gabriel Jesus (knee) is scheduled to return after missing the Cup loss to Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Palace (5-9-6, 21 points) must avoid falling into a relegation battle following a long downturn that began in early November.
The Eagles had gone eight league games without a win before defeating Brentford 3-1 at home on December 30. They followed that by failing to score throughout 180 minutes in two FA Cup third-round encounters against Everton, losing Wednesday’s replay 1-0 at Goodison Park after a 0-0.
In the later game, Odsonne Edouard (calf), who leads Palace with six goals, made his first start in almost a month. While five-goal scorer Michael Olise is still out with a hamstring injury, Palace boss Roy Hodgson was encouraged by his team’s performance against Everton.
“I’ve never taken a team to Arsenal thinking, ‘This is an easy one for us.’ It’s always been the underdog, and we are still in this match,” Hodgson added. “But I think there were many aspects of our performance on Wednesday night that were quite satisfying. I believed we carried out our game plan quite well, and on another occasion, I think we’d have even received a result.
