Arsenal will be keen to start the year 2017 on a bright note as they are set to face Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. They will be under pressure to pick three points especially after Chelsea and Liverpool emerged victorious in their last match.
Watch how Liverpool collected three points against Manchester City
Arsenal are presently 12 points adrift of table toppers Chelsea and six points behind Liverpool, but they can close that gap somewhat with a win over Crystal Palace.
Such wide gap has been created after Arsenal lost to Manchester City and Everton in their last two games, and another loss here could be disastrous for the club. So, one can expect Arsenal to come all guns blazing in this crucial encounter. After their two back-to-back losses, Arsene Wenger's team showed that they can bounce back from such losses, defeating West Brom, though it was a close one.
However, it is three points, which really matter in the contest, and they will be hoping for the same against Palace. It is also a question of character against their opponents, who have it in them to stun Arsenal.
"We responded well against West Brom and we now have to show who we are – which is the team that went 19 games unbeaten [after the first match of the season]. We have to show we can bounce back. That will make our season or not," Guardian quoted Wenger as saying.
They will have to do without Theo Walcott, who might not have recovered from his calf injury for this game. The onus will primarily fall on Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez to score the goals for Arsenal against Sam Allardyce's team.
Crystal Palace might not have been impressive this season as they are struggling in the lower half of the table with 16 points from 18 matches. With four wins only this season, manager Alan Pardew was sacked from his job, bringing in Allardyce as his replacement. The new manager picked up a point against Watford in his first game, and will hope for some good performance from his players against Arsenal, which is a different matter altogether.
If they are to have any sort of success, Crystal Palace will need Jason Puncheon and others like Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke to have a great day. With Arsenal possessing dangerous offensive players as well, Puncheon believes that the team has to deliver on the defensive side of things as well.
"We know as a team we can score goals because we have been doing that but its about stopping them at the other end and that is us working collectively as a group to do that. Within the group we always go to the game believing we can win and this will be no different, we need to show the fight and desire that is needed when going to somewhere like the Emirates," club's official website quoted Puncheon as saying.
A victory for the visitors on the opening day of 2017 could be an ideal gift for the new manager, but the task is mammoth for Crystal Palace.
Where to Watch Live
Manchester City vs Arsenal is set to begin at 9:30pm IST (4 pm GMT, 11 am ET). Live Streaming and TV information is below.
India: TV: Star Sports Select HD1. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: NBCSN. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.
Australia: TV: Optus Sport. Live Streaming: Optus Online.
Middle East: TV: Bein Sports Arabia. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
