Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Preview and Betting Tips | EFL Cup 2024

Match: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
When: Wednesday, 18 December 2024, 21:30 SAST
Where: Emirates Stadium

Arsenal Form

Arsenal have had several slip-ups in the league of late. They lost at Bournemouth and Newcastle and were also beaten at Inter Milan in the Champions League. A 1-1 draw at Chelsea was followed by a 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest. A 5-1 destruction of Sporting Lisbon came next in the Champions League.

A 5-2 thrashing of West Ham in the Carabao Cup was followed by a 2-0 win versus Man Utd. They have dropped points in each of their last two EPL fixtures. A 1-1 draw at Fulham and a 0-0 home draw with Everton came either side of a 3-0 victory over Monaco.

Arsenal Team News

Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ben White are all ruled out with injuries. This match may come too soon for Riccardo Calafiori but Gabriel returned from injury on Saturday.

Declan Rice had to be subbed in the last match so Jorginho could get a start. A fair amount of other rotation is expected. Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard are likely to start.

Arsenal Motivation

Arsenal play Palace twice in four days. The league meeting at Selhurst Park on Saturday is the priority.

Mikel Arteta will rotate his team for this one and will look to win in 90 minutes, but he won’t risk injuries.

Crystal Palace Form

Palace lost five and drew three of their first eight league matches. They’ve since lost just once in nine matches. A 1-0 home win over Tottenham turned their season around. They beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the last round of the League Cup before a 2-2 draw at Wolves and a 2-0 loss at Fulham.

They threw away a 2-1 lead to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa before scoring in the 94^th minute to draw 1-1 at home with Newcastle as they outshot the Magpies 16-1. After winning 1-0 at Ipswich, they got two great results: 2-2 at home to Man City and a 3-1 victory at Brighton as they put up 2.31 xG from just 35% possession.

Crystal Palace Team News

Forward Matheus Franca is injured and key midfielder Adam Wharton is ruled out. Chadi Riad and Rob Holding are not expected to play any part in this one.

Joel Ward is ruled out but Daniel Munoz is available despite being suspended for the upcoming league clash. Olivier Glasner played his best XI in the last round and could do so again. Matt Turner is set to play in goal and Cheick Doucoure and Eddie Nketiah could rotate into the XI.

Crystal Palace Motivation

Confidence in the squad is really good. They’re a hard side to beat and can absorb pressure in a back five.

Palace look to be taking this competition very seriously. They will go all out to pull off a shock at the Emirates.

Key Stats

Arsenal have scored 19 goals in their last 7 matches

Arsenal’s Saka has scored 5 goals in his last 7 matches

Crystal Palace have lost just 1 of their last 9 matches (all competitions)

Palace have lost their last 4 matches vs Arsenal (12 goals conceded)

Verdict

This should be a tight match, particularly if Crystal Palace pick a full strength XI and Arsenal rotate some players. I’m backing a possible draw in 90 minutes.

Best Bet: Both Teams to Score at 1.95
Value Bet: Draw at 4.45
Correct Score Tip: Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace at 8.25