Yesterday staying on the safer side proved a smart thing. We should all remind ourselves that 1,73 x the bet size equals a direct net return of 73%, not bad interest for less than 24 hours. It would have taken a couple of years to collect the same playing on the stock exchange . So, let’s stay in the same mood when we start looking at today’s fixture, Arsenal vs Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace had a very strong start of 2025, collecting 3 points in a lot of matches where they definitely considered the under-dogs. But following that streak, lately things have turned tougher on Palace. This could probably be due to plain psychology, the opponents suddenly start taking them as a serious opponent rather than an easy bite. So, form curve isn’t great but that doesn’t mean that Crystal Palace lack quality and could hurt almost any team in the League. Arsenal on their end needs at least one point to keep the dream of winning the league mathematically alive.
While it is too much to say that Crystal Palace historically is a dream opponent for Arsenal, history definitely gives Arsenal an upper hand. And, especially when playing at home Arsenal has a good record against Crystal Palace. Looking at the Head-to-Head stats for the last seasons this is where I find support for today’s prediction. The last five matches between the teams have ended with an Arsenal win, and four out of these five matches have delivered 5 or more goals...
But before coming to a final conclusion, let’s also look at the expected starting elevens and the status of the respective squads. Arsenal continues to be heavily decimated in strength through injuries on key players. For tonight’s match, Havertz, Magalhaes, Jesus, Jorginho Calafiori and Tomiauzy are all unavailable. And on top of that, Saka continues to have problems with his ankle and should be considered very uncertain for tonight’s starting eleven. Crystal Palace also faces some setbacks in terms of squad available. Richards is suspended and both Doucoure and Riad are on the injury list. So, it is two somewhat decimated teams that will enter Emirates Arena tonight, but again we are playing a London derby and there will definitely be a wild crowd ensuring that no efforts are spared from any side. And, as mentioned earlier, there is Arsenal who must collect at least one and preferably three points to preserve that chance to get ahead of Liverpool (even though this would require more or less a full mental breakdown from the Mersey-side team, at least it would still be mathematically possible).
Conclusion: Arsenal will win the match, that I would be quite confident in stating. And, looking at the total picture; derby, desperate need for points for the home team, history and recent stats, I am also quite confident in predicting quite a bit of goals delivered. So, weighing risk and value, I will go for Arsenal to Win & Over 2,5 goals. For those who feel rich, wild and crazy one idea could also be to split the wager 50/50 between Arsenal to Win and Over 2,5 respective Over 3,5 goals.
