Arsenal-Crystal Palace Preview
Crystal Palace will be looking to avoid a sixth straight Premier League defeat against Arsenal when they face the Gunners at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Arsenal have won the past five top-flight matches between the two sides, outscoring the Eagles 13-3 in those victories.
Despite their poor record against the Gunners, Palace are in a bullish mood after opening their 2015-16 campaign with a 3-1 victory at newly promoted Norwich City.
Wilfried Zaha, Damien Delaney and Yohan Cabaye all scored for Palace, although the final scoreline did flatter the Eagles.
Former Newcastle midfielder Cabaye, a summer signing from French champions Paris Saint-Germain had an outstanding debut for Palace.
Eagles defender Delaney expects a tough match against Arsenal in his side's home opener.
"They move the ball very, very quickly," Republic of Ireland international Delaney told the Crystal Palace website."Some times they see passes before you do and that's when they get down the sides or get in behind you or take it to areas you don't want to be in. They create a lot of overloads.
"It's going to be a good test. But I'm sure if we can show the same resilience we showed at Norwich against Arsenal, then we'll give them a good run for their money."
Arsenal suffered a shock 2-0 home defeat by West Ham in their league opener, with new goalkeeper Petr Cech - a standout summer signing from defending Premier League champions Chelsea - seemingly at fault with both goals.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger admits his side were out-of-sorts against the Hammers at the Emirates Stadium and described the result as "an accident."
"West Ham were a bit sharper than us and they had a competitive advantage due to the fact that they had Europa League games, they had longer preparation, and they were not the ideal opponent," Wenger to the Arsenal website. "We know we have the quality to be better, to play better and the players are intelligent enough to know that our performance was not good enough on the day.
"I'm confident we will be stronger at Crystal Palace. They've tremendously progressed and the consistency of their results has been impressive but we have a good record there and we want to maintain it."
Palace will be without goalkeeper Julian Speroni (finger) and former Gunners striker Marouane Chamakh (hamstring).
Arsenal will have Chile forward Alexis Sanchez available after an extended break following Copa America action with his national side, while young Spanish defender Hector Bellerin has overcome a thigh strain. Gunners trio Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck (both knee) and Jack Wilshere (ankle) remain sidelined.
England international midfielder Wilshere was expected to be for two months after suffering a hairline fracture to his right ankle on Aug. 1, but the 23-year-old has resumed training and could return within two to three weeks.
Palace have secured just one win in 12 Premier League matches against Arsenal, a 2-1 triumph at Highbury in October 1994. Arsenal are unbeaten in the last nine (7-2-0) between the teams and 9-2-1 all-time in the top flight, outscoring Palace 24-7 in those matches.
The Eagles have managed just one clean sheet in their last 15 league matches dating back to last season, a 1-0 win over Swansea on the final day of last season.
The Gunners have not started a season with back-to-back league defeats since the inaugural Premier League season of 1992-93.
Arsenal were unbeaten in their final six away league games last season, winning five times before drawing 1-1 with Manchester United in their last road match.