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The Gunners will take on Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener, with fans eager to see this highly rated Arsenal side in Premier League action for the first time this season.
After ending the 9 year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup last season, Arsenal made some top class signings in the summer, bringing in the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers or Matthieu Debuchy. The effect was visible right away, with the Gunners playing excellent football to defeat Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield and adding another piece of silverware. Indeed City had some missing players and the Community Shield is not the Premier League, but this Arsenal side looks great. Considering they topped the league for a lot of time last season and with the new faces they signed, the Gunners seem able to win the Premier League title this season. However, they need to take care of business in matches like these and avoid another shocker in the opener after they lost 1-3 to Aston Villa last season.
Crystal Palace was looking doomed to relegate early last year, but then Tony Pulis took over and the team ended up finishing 11th, getting some great results in the second part of the season and playing effective football especially at home. However, just a couple of days ago Tony Pulis decided to step down as manager, leaving Palace in a very bad spot – especially after what was considered to be a horrible transfer window for them so far. Listen, Pulis is a fantastic coach, he was the main reason for which Stoke made such an impact in the Premier League and without him Crystal Palace were absolutely rubbish last season. With the unproven Keith Millen acting as manager and with no good signings in the off season, Crystal Palace does not look able to gain too many points in the first few rounds.
Team news & lineups
Arsenal will miss Gnabry, Mertesacker, Ozil, Podolski, Miyaichi and Walcott. Koscielny is slightly doubtful but he should play, Ospina will probably be left out of the squad. Crystal Palace can`t count on Thomas, while Mariappa, Delaney and Williams are questionable.
Arsenal: Szczesny – Debuchy, Chambers, Koscielny, Gibbs – Arteta, Wilshere – Sanchez, Ramsey, Cazorla – Giroud.
Crystal Palace: Speroni – Kelly, Dann, Hangeland, Ward – Bolasie, Jedinak, Ledley, Puncheon – Chamakh, Campbell.
Listen, the opening round is always dangerous and we must not get carried away, the odds on the hosts are also low, but I really think Arsenal will win big here. I will pick the Gunners to cover a 2 goal handicap not just because they are looking very good and playing good football, but because Palace is in chaos right now and I can`t see them coping with such a strong team on the road. Arsenal usually won comfortably last season at home against lesser teams so I expect them to take advantage of Palace`s problems and put on a clinical offensive display. They will also be focused to avoid a similar opening day to last year, when they lost to Villa at home. Expect the visitors to be under pressure, suffer without Tony Pulis and make a couple of defensive mistakes. My tip will be Arsenal to cover the 2 goal asian handicap – the odds are not great and this is a public bet, but I still think it`s worth taking. Prediction: Arsenal – Crystal Palace 3-0.
Pick: Arsenal (-2 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.46 @ 10Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 11.68
Event date: 16 August
