In the Premier League, Crystal Palace is as tough as a rock, more and more solidified its position after two seasons from 2016 to 2018. Since the 2016/17 season, this team has made five teams hate at the end of the season, and even the big teams have to be careful.
Arsenal stalwart Patrick Vieira, who was given the chance to coach in the Premier League last season, introduced the ground-flow style of play to Crystal Palace, resulting in an all-around improvement in the team's offense, defense, tactics, mentality, and team awareness. Apart from the emergence of a number of young talents, all-round midfielder Conor Gallagher is undoubtedly the biggest highlight.
Although Crystal Palace only finished 12th last season, it was not their best finish since returning to the Premier League in 2013/14. However, the team's best-ever Premier League record of just 12 defeats was set, with 48 points second only to the 49 points scored in the 2018/19 season. In addition, the FA Cup also advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Chelsea. Crystal Palace were also one of the four teams that last season's champions Manchester City could not get a head-to-head advantage against (1 win and 1 loss with City; 2 losses with Tottenham; 2 wins and 2 losses with Liverpool; 2 wins and 2 losses with Southampton). However, this summer saw the return of central midfielder Gallagher to Chelsea, a change that may have increased the pressure on Crystal Palace to fight for a better ranking while staying out of relegation.
Crystal Palace have won five, drawn two and lost two of their pre-season warm-up matches against almost all English teams and across all divisions. Two of the defeats came against Asia-bound Liverpool and Manchester United.
A Premier League treble winner, not only did the Arsenal's last Premier League title date back to an unbeaten seal in the 2003/04 season, but even their last Champions League appearance was in the 2016/17 season.
Last season, the Arsenal suffered three consecutive defeats at the start of the season, coupled with inconsistent performances throughout the season, and were eventually overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season, finishing in fifth place and once again missing out on a ticket to the Champions League. This summer, the Arsenal made a big splash in the transfer market, investing 132 million euros to sign striker Gabriel Jesus, defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, center back Marcus Torreira, midfielder Fabio Vieira, and goalkeeper Matt Turner as options.
Meanwhile, the Gunners have officially named Aaron Ramsdale as their starting goalkeeper, while Bernd Leno, who has lost the No.1 shirt, will have to move to fellow promotion rivals Fulham; French central defender William Saliba is finally back in the first-team squad after three years out on loan since being signed by the Gunners; and back-rower Thomas Payer was embroiled in a legal wrangle over the summer, but it looks as if things are looking up.
The Arsenal won all five of their pre-season warm-up matches, scoring a total of 20 goals, including a 5-3 win over Bundesliga Nürnberg, a 2-0 win over Everton, a 3-1 win over MLS Orlando City, and a 4-0 win over Chelsea (the last two of which also won the Summer Camp Trophy). The front-end has been blossoming in many ways, leaving fans hoping for the Premier League title but at least looking forward to the Champions League ticket.
Last season, when these two teams met, Crystal Palace earned a 2-2 draw on the road and a 3-0 win at home. In comparison, Crystal Palace also won 3-0 at home against Tottenham Hotspur (the visitors also had someone red carded). In a way, it's that 2-point difference that defines the dividing line between the Champions League and the Europa League.
The Arsenal opened last season's Premier League campaign with a visit to Brentford, and this season will also start with a visit to Crystal Palace. Although the team has a brand new lineup, how to catch the mid-to-lower teams more consistently may have a more direct impact on the Arsenal's path back to the Champions League than the strongest matchups.
Both sides adopted a 4231 formation:
crystal palace
Goalkeeper: Victor Guaita
Defenders: Nathaniel Cline, Joachim Anderson, Mark Gueye, Trick Mitchell
Back: Cheick Omar Doucoure, Jeffrey Schlupp
Attacking midfielder: Ebechi Eze
Winger: Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha
Center: Odsonne Edouard
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Center: Gabriel Jesus.
Winger: Gabriel Martinelli, Bucayo Saca
Attacking midfielder: Martin Odegaard
Back: Granit Ehakaaka, Thomas Payer
Defenders: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Ben White
Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale
In the fourth minute, Gabriel Jesus took the ball past several people and killed a shot straight into the box that was blocked, and then Gabriel Martinelli added a shot that also went wide from too small an angle.
In the 20th minute, the Arsenal in the right corner kick towards the goal, from the edge of the box ran into the left Oleksandr Zinchenko high header cleverly assisted the top back to the goal Gabriel Martinelli, header to break the Crystal Palace door, the Gunners to achieve this season's first Premier League goal.
The Arsenal have scored 17 goals from set pieces in the Premier League last season, second only to Manchester City and Liverpool. And Gabriel Martinelli not only scored his 1st Premier League goal of the season, but also his 1st individual Premier League header goal.
In the 28th minute, a back pass from the Arsenal was met with Crystal Palace pressing and Aaron Emsdale received a pass back from a teammate and fired the ball at his opponent, fortunately strong enough not to be picked up by the opponent, and the direction of the bounce also happened to be the direction of the teammate who had made the most recent pass to him.
