Friday, 25 October 2013

Flash Past - Crystal Palace v Arsenal (EPL)

Morning Folks!

Been spending all my leisure time playing PS3 and I must say my FIFA form is a sine wave, unlike Arsenal’s current form. Though we lost against Dortmund 3 days back, our PL form is still good and we have been unbeaten since that Villa loss. We have a great chance to put the loss against Dortmund behind as we will be up against a team currently in the relegation zone. The last time we played palace was in 04-05 and this is what happened:

Lineup Then:
Crystal Palace
Starting XI : Kiraly – Granville – Popovic – Boyce – Sorondo* – Watson – Riihilahti – Hughes – Routledge* – Johnson – Kolkka*

Subs : Speroni – Leigertwood* – Lakis* – Freedman* – Torghelle

Arsenal
Starting XI : Lehmann – Cole – Lauren – Cygan – Toure – Vieira – Pires* – Ljunberg* – Fabregas* – Reyes - Henry

Subs : Almunia – Senderos – Flamini* – Bergkamp* – Van Persie*

*subbed players

Blast from the Past:
It was not a great day for the Invincibles as they were expected to get all the 3 points, but ended up with just 1. Arsenal’s goal was scored by the King after the hour mark and within two minutes, Crystal palace equalized, courtesy Toure. Johnson made maximum use of the mistake and scored to make it 1-1 and that’s how it stayed till the final whistle blew.

Current Mood:
Crystal palace have sacked their manager Ian Holloway due to their poor run of form. They are ranked 19th in the table and their only win came against Sunderland who stand 20th. The club is interested in appointing Tony Pulis. If this happens, then brace yourselves, for Rugby is about to come back to the Premier League.

Arsenal had a prolific game against Norwich, but got bossed around for most of the match by Dortmund. The gunners would want to bounce back with a good win and get back on track for the Capital One Cup game against Chelsea next week.

Injury List:
Crystal Palace
Hunt (Ankle), McCarthy (Fitness), Williams (Ankle), Murray (Knee)

Arsenal
Walcott (Abdomen), Oxlade (Knee), Podolski (Hamstring), Diaby (Knee)

Predicted Lineup:
Crystal Palace
Chamakh, the beast Arsene created (I am actually LMAO while I am writing this :D) , is likely to start the game this week along with Gayle up front and the rest will be the same.

Speroni – Ward – Mariappa – Delaney- Moxey – O’keefe – Jedinak – Puncheon – Campana  – Gayle - Chamakh

Arsenal
Arsenal will look to rest Ramsey who has been playing continuously this season. Wilshere has taken a knock and Flamini is back so he will be replacing Wilshere and pairing with Arteta in the middle of the park. Cazorla is very likely to start the game with Giroud up front, Özil in the hole, and Gnabry/Rosicky on the right instead of Ramsey. I am also expecting Bendtner to get some minutes in the second half once we are in a comfortable position and maybe a bit of rest for Gibbs too. Flamini is the only player remaining from the squad that faced Crystal palace for last time

Szczesny – Sagna – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Gibbs – Arteta – Flamini – Cazorla – Gnabry – Özil - Giroud

Talisman:
Crystal Palace
Puncheon will be the talisman for them, playing from the center of the park and looking to create chances for Gayle and Chamakh.

Arsenal
Though Giroud hasn’t scored in the last 4 PL games, he has contributed assists and has a total of 4 goals and 4 assists so far in the league this season. His contribution on the field and his importance to the team is highlighted by his layoffs, his delicate touches, his intelligent movement and most importantly, his assists. The fact that his 4 assists so far puts him at the top of the charts is a remarkable improvement from last season when he had all of 3 assists in 38 games and is playing a huge role in our performance this season. Expect him to continue the good work and score as well as assist more

Score line Prediction:
Last week, my prediction was right according to the goal difference. This time I’m going for a strong 2-0 victory over Palace

Come on you Gunners!!



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