Arsenal return to Premier League action with a home game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, a few days after their trip to Naples and before their away clash with Wolves.

Whilst the Eredivisie are moving an entire round of fixtures to help Ajax with their Champions League clash with Spurs, all Arsenal have been given for their continued progression in Europe is fixture congestion. The Gunners have their toughest remaining PL away match on Wednesday, but first, they have to face Palace on Sunday.

That’s not likely to be an easy game either, especially with Arsenal needing to rotate and deal with suspensions and injuries. However, every point is vital right now, so we don’t expect Unai Emery to make more changes than he has to.

Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 03: Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium on February 03, 2019, in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Bernd Leno will play in goal, after missing out for Petr Cech in the Europa League in midweek. In front of him, we expect Unai Emery to stick with a back-three, rather than switching to the back-four that returned mixed results against Watford.

Assuming that’s the case, Sokratis Papastathopoulos is unavailable with suspension, and Rob Holding is still injured, leaving limited options for the centre-back trio. Shkodran Mustafi should come in after missing out in midweek, then Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Konstantinos Mavropanos are all available.

Much as Emery would probably rather go strong and pick Koscielny and Monreal, he’s got to keep the Wolves game and the respective injury records of the two players in mind. As a result, we expect him to give Monreal his first rest since late February.

Midfield and Wing-Backs

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Matteo Guendouzi of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on February 27, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

As long as Emery is playing wing-backs and Hector Bellerin is still injured, there isn’t much choice here. Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles should start.

In midfield, Arsenal have a number of different problems to contend with. Aaron Ramsey is out with a hamstring injury, whilst Granit Xhaka is now also a doubt with a hip problem. Lucas Torreira isn’t 100% fit either, though he’s healthy enough to avoid inclusion in the club’s latest injury update, at least.

Guendouzi is one of few who appears to be fit and available, along with Mohamed Elneny. Most likely, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira will start the match.

Forwards

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 14: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal celebrates with teammate Mesut Ozil at full-time of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and Stade Rennais at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)

Thanks to Aaron Ramsey’s injury, there will be at least one change in the front three from Thursday’s match. Mesut Özil will surely come back into the team after he was rested in Italy, whilst Alexandre Lacazette has only played limited minutes this week too, so he’s also likely to start.

In the third position, Denis Suarez is injured, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Alex Iwobi could start on the left with Özil playing on the right. More likely, though, is that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang keeps his place up front and the wide duo come on to change the game later on, if necessary.

Full Predicted Starting XI

BuildLineup.com

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Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips

Arsenal have won six out of the last seven home matches against Crystal Palace. Bet on Arsenal to win with MustardBet at 1.542.

Both teams have scored in each of the last three clashes between the two sides. Bet on both teams to score with MustardBet at 1.679.

There have been at least three goals in each of the last four matches between Arsenal and Crystal Palace. Bet on over 2.75 goals with MustardBet at 1.705.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace (7.817 with MustardBet).

All odds correct at time of writing.

Unai Emery to make 5 changes: Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Crystal Palace