Crystal Palace's fine form has guided it to the outside of the red zone and into safety for the time being. But the job for the Eagles is far from done, and getting points from this match against Arsenal would go a long way towards keeping them up for the 2017-18 season.
At 3 p.m. ET, tune into NBC Sports Network for live television coverage of this English Premier League match on Monday, April 10, 2017, at Selhurst Park.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Crystal Palace +385
Arsenal -137
Draw +295
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
Obviously, this is an incredibly dangerous match for Arsenal. The Gunners would have watched CP go on the road and take all three points from Chelsea, and surely, if the Blues can be beaten by these Eagles, so too can a reeling Arsenal team that is just barely holding onto its hopes of finishing in the Top 4 this year.
Still, the Gunners have to be the favorites in this match at -137 on the moneyline. They're clearly the better of the two teams, and a couple decent results in a row at home might have them fancying themselves for a decent run-in.
The total of a flat 3 is high, but this Crystal Palace team has watched 50 goals sail into its goal this year, a telltale sign that it's going to take multiple strikes to win this match.
Key Injuries
Credit to Sam Allardyce for keeping this Crystal Palace team in contention for a spot in the EPL next season. The Eagles are playing at this point without Connor Wickham, Papa Souare, Steve Mandanda and James McArthur, and the midweek matches clearly took their toll on the squad. Scott Dann, Frazier Campbell and James Tomkins were all dinged up around the match against Chelsea, and that really left the team reeling against Southampton.
Arsenal is on its third keeper at this point. Emiliano Martinez had to make his EPL debut against West Ham on Wednesday with both David Ospina and Petr Cech down. Laurent Koscielny was ruled out for the West Ham match after getting dinged up against Manchester City over the weekend, and he's a question mark for this weekend as well.
Recent Form
The signs were there that Crystal Palace was starting to find a bit of trouble against Chelsea. Sure, the team earned its three points; no taking that away. But the Eagles were always on the back foot and always looked like they were going to concede and the dam was going to break. A four-match winning streak is said and done now with Southampton beating the Eagles 3-1, and the proverbial defensive dam broke in said match after Christian Benteke put them up 1-0 just beyond the first half hour.
It took Arsenal a while to get going against West Ham on Wednesday, but it got three points it so desperately needed to stay in the Top 4 chase, particularly with Manchester City losing to Chelsea. The Gunners finally poured three home against the Hammers, and all of a sudden, West Ham could be facing a relegation battle with eight matches left to go.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The Crystal Palace defense is just in shambles right now. Mamadou Sakho has probably blocked a dozen shots on or near his line over the course of the last week, and that's a bad sign. The Eagles could have easily conceded five against Southampton, and that came on the heels of perhaps giving Chelsea 10 legitimate chances over the weekend.
Mesut Ozil was in such terrible form for the Gunners before he finally found the back of the net against West Ham, and we can't help but wonder if he's in for a nice run at the end of the campaign. We fancy the German to bag a brace, if not more, in what should be a romp at Selhurst Park.
English Premier League Odds: Arsenal 4, Crystal Palace 1
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