Arsenal are at the Emirates Stadium for today’s Premier League meeting against Crystal Palace. The Gunners are currently fourth in the league standings, but they can propel above arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur with a victory over Roy Hodgson’s side.
The north London giants are currently on a run of 10 straight league wins at their homeground, but they need to guard against any complacency facing the Eagles, who have tended to surprise teams on the road this season.
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Predicted Lineup:
Bernd Leno has transformed into a top-notch goalkeeper in the second half of the season where he has produced a number of standout displays. The German is currently the club’s first-choice keeper for the league duties and should be expected to start.
In the defence, Emery should resort to a similar three-man backline which has worked to good effect in the past few months. Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal should feature and they could be accompanied by Shkodran Mustafi with Sokratis serving the final game of his league suspension after accumulating 10 yellow cards.
Ahead of the trio, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac should slot into the right wing-back and left wing-back positions respectively while Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka are the likely choices at the heart of the midfield.
Xhaka was substituted early during the midweek Europa League game with a minor groin concern but he appears fit after returning to first-team training ahead of the derby against the Eagles.
Further forward, Mesut Ozil should take up the number 10 position in the absence of Aaron Ramsey with a hamstring concern while Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should feature together upfront.
Emery has restricted the opportunity to pair Lacazette and Aubameyang together on different occasions this term, but we are anticipating the manager to reverse the trend in what remains a crucial home game in the club’s quest to finish in the top four.
Predicted Lineup (3-4-1-2): Leno, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette
