Crystal Palace v Arsenal preview: Roy Hodgson surprised by Eagles revival
Roy Hodgson has admitted he did not expect Crystal Palace to be starting the second half of the Premier League season outside the relegation zone, as they prepare to host Arsenal on Thursday.
Palace were bottom of the table with no points and no goals after four games when Hodgson was appointed manager following Frank de Boer’s short-lived reign.
Hodgson lost his first three matches in charge – 1-0, 5-0 and 4-0 – but since then Palace have taken 18 points from 12 games to climb up to 16th place and be two points above the relegation zone.
„We’re trying to chip away at those first seven games when we had zero points,“ Hodgson said after Palace’s 1-1 draw at Swansea City on Saturday.
„It’s an enormous handicap to give yourself and have a big minus goal difference as well.
„We needed big performances to get on an even keel, and that’s what we’ve done in the last two or three months.
„We’ve brought ourselves into a pack of teams who have to look over their shoulders and be worried that the spectre of relegation is not leading them.
„I expected it to take a lot longer to get ourselves into contention to the other teams.
„But we know there’s an awful long way to go and that it’s going to be a fight for every point until the end of the season.“
Palace extended the longest unbeaten run in their Premier League history to eight games at Swansea on the weekend, but will face a tough examination when Champions League-chasing Arsenal visit Selhurst Park on Thursday.
Arsenal have dropped to sixth in the table, three points behind north London rivals Tottenham in fifth and four adrift of Liverpool in the fourth and final Champions League berth, albeit with this their match in hand.
Team news
Palace will have striker Christian Benteke available for the visit of Arsenal after the Belgium international missed the trip to the Liberty Stadium through suspension.
However, defender Mamadou Sakho misses the clash with a calf strain, Joel Ward is still struggling with a groin problem, although Jason Puncheon remains available for selection despite being charged with possession of an offensive weapon and assault.
Nacho Monreal is a doubt for Arsenal though after suffering an ankle injury against Liverpool on Friday, with the Spanish defender having to be substituted at half-time.
Wenger will also still be without striker Olivier Giroud, midfielder Aaron Ramsey (both hamstring) and playmaker Santi Cazorla (ankle) in south London.
Opta stats
Palace have won only one of their last 12 home league games against Arsenal (D5 L6), though it was a 3-0 victory in this exact fixture last season.
Arsenal have only failed to score in two of their last 19 league games against Palace – the 0-3 loss last season and a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park in October 1997.
After losing their first three home league games of the season without scoring, Palace are unbeaten in their last six at Selhurst Park (W3 D3 L0) and have scored exactly two goals in each game.
Arsenal have only won two Premier League away games this season – their joint-fewest tally after nine away games of a campaign in the Premier League era (level with 1994-95, 1998-99, 2000-01 and 2005-06).
Merson’s prediction
This will be a good game. You look at Arsenal against Liverpool and it was an entertaining game. But seriously, you are not going to win anything at all playing like that. I am going to go 3-2 to Arsenal though…Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
