Arsenal host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
The Gunners cruised past Ipswich Town on Sunday, courtesy of a brace from Leandro Trossard and goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri.
Mikel Arteta’s team are preparing for a semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, and will be looking to use these league matches to build fitness and momentum.
The Eagles await at the Emirates in midweek, with Oliver Glasner’s side preparing for their own semi-final in the FA Cup this weekend.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Crystal Palace
This is Arsenal’s last game before the first leg against PSG, and thus, Arteta may roll out a side that closely resembles the team he’ll start in that game.
There are six days between the two matches, so there’ll be plenty of time to rest and recuperate.
Thomas Partey is suspended for the first PSG clash, so the Spaniard will have to decide whether to use the Ghanaian in this game to ensure he doesn’t grow rusty on the bench, or whether he wants to experiment with what he’ll do against the French champions.
He’ll likely go for the latter, with the full-backs the only changes from Ipswich.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Jurrien Timber will come back into the side, with Mikel Merino remaining in midfield and Leandro Trossard starting up front.
The rest of the team remains the same, with Declan Rice at the six, and Martinelli and Bukayo Saka out wide.
Arsenal need just seven more points to guarantee a top-five finish, so winning this game would go a long way to securing that.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Crystal Palace: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Merino, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.
Mikel Arteta needs to get players off early in Arsenal v Crystal Palace
While attaining one more win will all but secure Champions League qualification for next season, and in turn allow Arteta to rotate in future league matches as the European competition hots up, he’ll need to protect his players against the South Londoners.
As shown by Leif Davis’ shocking tackle on Saka on the weekend, key players could get injured at any moment with some of the reckless opposition players out there.
If Arsenal establish a commanding lead on the weekend, the Arteta must take action.
The likes of Rice, Martin Odegaard and Saka are probably the three main key players who will need to be withdrawn in a winning position.
The Premier League remains important, but the Champions League takes precedence.
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