Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Time for the Gunners to climb in clash of Wenger’s former captains

Monday Night Football will see Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta’s saw their mini revival end with a 0-0 draw at Brighton before the international break.

Before then, they had recorded back-to-back victories over Norwich, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur.

Truth be told, Arsenal were lucky to leave the Amex with one point last time around. They looked sluggish and clueless, leading to a few supporters wondering if that win over Spurs was North London Derby adrenaline.

However, tonight, Arteta comes up against another former captain of the club, Patrick Vieira.

Vieira has made a decent start to life as a Premier League manager, but Palace sit in 14th place with seven points, just three less than Arsenal.

Although you would expect Arsenal to pick up three points somehow, Wilfred Zaha and co have enough to trouble their hosts.

At this point, Arteta needs to take advantage and begin to climb up the table. A win will take them up to 9th place, one point below Manchester United and two less than Spurs.

After the Palace fixture, the Gunners host Aston Villa. These home fixtures need to count for something, especially with the fans back in the stadium, if Arsenal intend to have a decent season.

Kick off is 8pm WAT.

EPL: Arsenal’s squad to face Crystal Palace revealed [Full list]