There are concerns that Arsenal's season will end when Gabriel Magalhaes is left out of the squad for the rest of the campaign in early April.
In the end, the "Gunners" have fallen into this situation before. Two years ago, centre-back William Saliba, Gabriel's partner, suffered a knee injury at the same time. This has left Arsenal out of the European Cup and their hopes of winning the Premier League have also fallen to Manchester City.
Jakub Kiwior joined the Emirates in mid-That season from Spezia in a £20 million deal. However, the Polish player was not given the responsibility to replace Saliba.
Instead, Rob Holding partnered Gabriel in defence as Arsenal were in decline, winning just five of their last 11 games and having a disappointing end.
This time, Kiwior has the opportunity to prove himself as a capable reserve player. However, the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace raised more questions than answers.
The 25-year-old has done his best to imitat Gabriel's strong scoring ability. He jumped high to head into Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson's net from Martin Odegaard's free kick in the 3rd minute.
This was Kiwior's first Premier League goal of the season and only the fourth of his Arsenal career. Over the years, the Polish player has had to patiently watch from the outside as Saliba and Gabriel form one of the best centre-back pairs in the world.
"Even when I was on the bench, I could still feel the help from the coach that he always prepared for me. Especially now, when he needs me, I am always 100% ready to help the team" - Kiwior said.
Kiwior may be ready, but is he good enough? Arsenal looked uncertain in defence throughout this match. Of course, there are some reasons for that, not just because both teams are eyeing their next match.
As for the "Gunners", they will host Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Palace will face Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
"We have lowered our standards and recognized Crystal Palace's efforts. We struggled to find stability in the game. We lost the ball simply and slowly in everything we did. I was very disappointed," said Arteta after the draw with Palace.
Injuries have kept Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out for the rest of the season. This makes midfielder Mikel Merino an uncompromising hero in the striker position. However, Thomas Partey's suspension in the first leg against PSG will force Arteta to reconsider.
Arteta has not revealed anything, but the reasonable move would be to bring Merino back to midfield and give Trossard the opportunity to lead the attack. In fact, this tactic has been applied by him in the last 2 matches against Ipswich Town and Palace.
After scoring twice against Ipswich, Trossard continued to score against Palace. However, Arsenal still have to endure their 13th draw of the season.
PSG may be a tough opponent. More efforts are needed when the Champions League returns if Arsenal do not want to lament injuries.
