Arsene will make a couple of changes to the line up. Santi Cazorla injected the team with real quality when he came on against Dortmund so he will surely start on the left and keep his place from now on in a bid to get him match sharp. Flamini will also come back into the side but the question is whether Arsene decides to give Ramsey a breather or if he will replace Arteta instead. There are two ways to look at those options should they be on Arsene’s mind. Firstly Arteta was one of our better players against the Germans. But Arteta and Flamini

Crystal Palace reminds me of my very first memories of Arsenal. In fact Crystal Palace at Highbury was my very first game back in 1992. They were our whipping boys back then, we usually gave them a good old hiding and I got to see plenty of goals in my very first match. I think we won the game 4-1 or it might have been 6-1 my memory fails me. I do remember Paul Merson running the show that afternoon.

When I think of Crystal Palace I think of Grey kits, the one and only Ian Wright, Mark Bright, Eddie McGoldrick and Geoff Thomas and his hilarious attempted lob for England.

I had a little soft spot for Palace back in the day but I guess their disappearance to the Championship has meant that I have pretty much forgotten about them, until today.

We could do with another one of those days back in 1992. I suspect that the Crystal Palace fans will be fearing the worst given their last home result against Fulham. A 4-1 home defeat isn’t exactly the perfect preparation for a meeting with the league leaders.

I would like to reassure the Palace fans that we are the Arsenal and unfortunately we do not tend to do things the easy way, especially given that the plot has thickened further with Ian Holloway leaving his post so early into the season. That is a bit of a bummer to be honest, I remember the last time we played one of his teams, his defence played a very high line without any pressure on our passers, we enjoyed that day, even Eboue scored. I would have fancied us to have had a field day facing similar stupid brave tactics.

Tony Pulis is the front runner to replace Holloway, if he gets the job then I hope he fails spectacularly, no offence Palace fans but his brand of football should never be looked at positively in this day and age. Well not by me anyway.

Anyway regardless of what is put in front of us at lunchtime, we need to show our strength of character and fly out of the traps and take the game to Palace from the very first whistle. We have to show that the Dortmund defeat is not something that can negatively impact our game.

Confidence is a fragile thing in football, easy to lose and difficult to regain as Arsene has explained before. Confidence in our playing style is arguably more important to Arsenal than it is to the rest of the teams in the league so it will be interesting to see how we start the game. Hopefully we will be at them from the very start, quick combination football in the Palace half. The longer the game remains level or the home side ahead the more nerves could creep in. I’d love an early goal and then pick off the hosts from there.

I suspect Arsene will make a couple of changes to the line up. Santi Cazorla injected the team with real quality when he came on against Dortmund so he will surely start on the left and keep his place from now on in a bid to get him match sharp. Flamini will also come back into the side but the question is whether Arsene decides to give Ramsey a breather or if he will replace Arteta instead.

There are two ways to look at those options should they be on Arsene’s mind. Firstly Arteta was one of our better players against the Germans. But Arteta and Flamini in the middle is a little cautious against a team struggling at the wrong end of the table. On the flip side, you can start with those two, give Ramsey a deserved rest (I know he has a chance in midweek to rest also) and yet have the option to go more attacking by bringing Ramsey on. However if you start with Rambo and we haven’t broken through then removing him from the pitch doesn’t help our cause.

I am probably over thinking as always but I fully expect Jack Wilshere to be benched. I’d be very, very surprised to see him start once more, especially with Santi raring to go. I expect Flamini to come back into the side and it will be either alongside Ramsey or Arteta.

An old friend of ours will face us for the first time. Marouane Chamakh gets a chance to prove a point this afternoon, I am sure you have all heard the stat where he has only had one shot in 8 games. Amazing really, yet I am not really surprised. I remember thinking at Arsenal that he was the least strikey striker ever. I barely remember an attempt from outside the box during his time at Arsenal. I reckon he’ll get one away today though. Will he score today? It would be just typical wouldn’t it?

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

Well I say predicted team but this is kinda what I’d like to see. I think the trio of Rosicky, Özil and Cazorla can spark us back into life. Then you have both Flamini and Ramsey covering ridiculous amounts of ground. I like that team. It is a team that could do some damage, I just hope Arsene is reading because if he is, well. Obviously he’d listen to me. #Blogger>Manager

Soccerbase

I’d like to point you in the direction of our friends at Soccerbase.com where you can find some good odds on the game.

I had a look back at my first game vs Palace and it was indeed 4-1 to the Arsenal. Merson scored a hat trick which explains why I thought he ran the show on that day. I’m sure one of his goals was a sumptuous lob. Anyway our last league result was 4-1 and Palace lost 4-1 in their last game

You can get odds of 16/1 for another 4-1 to the Arsenal. So a cheeky £5 could win you £80 plus your fiver back. I also have a sneaky feeling that Giroud will score more than once. He hasn’t done that so far this season I don’t think but surely law of averages says it has to happen at some point. If betting is your thing then have a look here.

Match thoughts either later this evening but most probably tomorrow.

COYG.