Aulanews.id – We return to Premier League action on Saturday when Crystal Palace cross the Thames for an early kick-off, as we aim to end our four-game wait for a win.
To try and rectify that, Mikel Arteta and his squad utilised a 13-day break between games to head to Dubai for some warm-weather training, and they’ll be hoping the hard work pays off by leapfrogging Aston Villa into third place in the league table with the three points on offer.
Palace beat Brentford in their last league outing, ending a run of one win in 12 before then that saw them slide towards the relegation zone. However, Roy Hodgson will take some solace in that he has returned from Emirates Stadium with at least a point from his last three visits.
Eagles hope for better in 2024
Having returned to Selhurst Park last March to replace Patrick Vieira and swiftly securing safety, Hodgson has endured a trickier campaign this time around. In fact, the Eagles are aiming to win consecutive league games for the first time since the former England boss recorded three in a row in the immediate aftermath of his second coming.
Despite the summer loss of Wilfried Zaha, the campaign started positively with only two defeats in their first eight games, one of which came via Martin Odegaard’s penalty in SE25 back in August. However, a 4-0 loss at Newcastle United in October kick-started a poor run of form throughout the remainder of 2023.
Seven defeats from 11 matches arrived, with the only victory in that time coming at Burnley in November. Conceding late goals has hurt them badly, and only Sheffield United have conceded more in the last 15 minutes than Palace’s 11, with Everton, Luton, Liverpool, Brighton and Chelsea all snatching points away from a side now just five above the drop zone, and out of the FA Cup following Wednesday’s replay defeat against the Toffees.
What the managers say
Arteta: “(Hodgson’s) teams are extremely well-organised and hard to beat. He’s really good at provoking things that he wants in the game and tomorrow is going to be a big battle for us, that’s for sure.
“We are recharged, full of energy and super motivated. The team is super motivated and we want to attack the second half of the season with a lot of ambitions and with the understanding that the team is capable of big things. They are convinced of that.” – read everything Mikel said in his pre-match press conference
Hodgson: “I’ve never taken a team to Arsenal thinking: ‘this is an easy one for us.’ It’s always been up against it really, the underdog, which we still are in this match as well.
