New Year's Day is always a coveted one in sports. Sure, England hasn't quite caught on to the same degree of major sporting events as we have here in the United States, but the Premier League action to kick off 2017 is going to be intense. Arsenal is still trying to hang in there at the top of the table, and a match against Crystal Palace at home is going to be almost a mandatory three-pointer to stay in the chase.
Don't miss the Barclays Premier League action from Emirates Stadium at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Catch every moment of the match live on NBC Sports Network.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arsenal -315
Crystal Palace +850
Draw +465
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
"Plucky" Palace has had a history of playing these high-scoring matches on the road this season. The team, to its credit, has 17 goals scored in nine fixtures away from home, a mark which is actually fourth best in the Premier League and three more than what Chelsea has at the top of the table. But the problem comes on the defensive end. The club has allowed 20 goals already, and that could rear its ugly head again in this one.
That's a big part of the reason why CP is a big underdog at +1.5 on the Asian Handicap. Perhaps more important is the fact that the club's defensive woes have set the total at a relatively high flat 3.
Key Injuries
Alan Pardew probably had to get sacked from Crystal Palace, but the fact of the matter is that it wasn't all his fault. The list of injuries Sam Allardyce walked into is fairly large. Jonathan Benteke has a knee injury that will cost him another six weeks or so, Joe Ledley has a calf problem, James McArthur is battling a sore calf, Steve Mandanda's knee injury is relatively serious, Loic Remy, Bakary Sako, Pape Souare, James Tomkins, Connor Wickham… You get the point. The Eagles also won't have Damien Delaney for this one thanks to his fifth booking of the season picked up against Watford on Boxing Day, a card that came with a mandatory one-match suspension.
Arsenal has its problems for sure, but the men to really watch for this one are Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott. Both sat out the match against West Brom on Boxing Day with what were classified as minor injuries, and they're both considered question marks for these next holiday fixtures. It's also worth remembering that Oxlade-Chamberlain has been linked to Liverpool in a potential January move, and that could play a role in whether he is in the lineup or not for Arsene Wenger in this one.
Recent Form
The first thing Big Sam did on the job at Crystal Palace was pull the team a point with a 1-1 draw against Watford. For the time being, that's good enough to stay out of the relegation zone. But the results have to improve. This is a team that hasn't won a match since December 3, and it hasn't picked up a 'W' away from Selhurst Park since September 24.
The Gunners stopped their two-game rot by beating West Brom 1-0 at home on Boxing Day, but it's hard to say that the result was emphatic. Olivier Giroud did get the goal that got the job done, but this wasn't a fantastic game by any stretch of the imagination.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
It's hard to make a case for Arsenal right now in the form that it's in, but the biggest argument that we have in its favor is the fact that CP has been so darn bad on the road defensively. There's no way that Big Sam is going to have the Eagles sitting back like Tony Pulis did with West Brom, and if that's the way this does play out, we expect to see an emphatic victory for the Gunners on their home turf to kick off their 2017 season.
Barclays Premier League Odds: Arsenal 4, Crystal Palace 0
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