Overview
Arsenal's form has been inconsistent recently. In between wins against Man United and AS Monaco, Mikel Arteta's side have only managed disappointing draws against Fulham and Everton.
These results make the "Gunners" gradually lose steam in the Premier League championship race, especially when Liverpool and Chelsea have not made many serious mistakes.
Two draws against Fulham and Everton in the Premier League also highlighted Arsenal's big problem. They often struggle against teams that defend in large numbers. This is something they will likely face in the Carabao Cup quarter-final. Crystal Palace are likely to adopt a similar strategy and wait for counter-attacks.
Palace are in high spirits with a run of five consecutive unbeaten matches in the Premier League. In their most recent match, Crystal Palace defeated Brighton 3-1 despite playing away from home.
Overall, Palace are playing with increasing confidence under manager Oliver Glasner and are gradually moving away from the danger zone in the rankings. In addition, Crystal Palace enter this match with much less pressure to win than their opponents.
For Arsenal, they really need to win to regain confidence but also avoid unnecessary injuries. Therefore, this is the time for Arteta to have appropriate personnel plans.
Arsenal have won their last four meetings with Crystal Palace, keeping three clean sheets in those matches.
Human resources situation
With a busy schedule, Arteta is expected to rotate his squad against Palace. Gabriel Jesus could be handed a start alongside Jorginho and Raheem Sterling.
On the other side of the front line, Oliver Glasner has often used a relatively strong lineup in the Carabao Cup this season. And he will likely continue to apply that approach against Arsenal.
Expected lineup:
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Jorginho, Merino, Trossard, Jesus, Sterling.
Crystal Palace: Turner, Guehi, Chalobah, Lacroix, Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Eze, Nketiah.
The match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace takes place at 2:30 a.m. on December 19 (Vietnam time).
