Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Prediction and Betting Tips

ARSENAL host Crystal Palace on Monday in the Premier League. Chris Clark (@ChrisClark1975) shares his verdict.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace | Monday 18th October 2021, 20:00 | Sky Sports

A London derby wraps up the Premier League matchweek on Monday night, and Arsenal fans will be hoping that it's nothing but pain for an old favourite Patrick Vieira.

Arsenal have a very good record against Palace, having only lost four of 42 meetings, and only lost one of the last eight meetings. However, Arsenal have not won any of the last three at home against the Eagles.

Both sides after poor starts to the season, have started to find their feet. Both hitting three goals and winning comprehensively against abject Spurs performances. That was painful for me to type being a Spurs fan of over 40 years!

Last time out Palace were very impressive against Leicester, however they needed two late goals to salvage a draw. Palace were incredibly open to basic straight balls through their which Iheanacho and Vardy took full advantage of. I can already visualise Aubameyang latching onto a slide rule Smith-Rowe through ball and scoring.

Let's take into consideration Aubameyang's goalscoring record on Monday night's. He's scored seven in his last eight performances. Adding to Aubameyang's own personal Monday night form, is Arsenal's. They've won their last seven matches on a Monday night, scoring 15 and only conceding two. An Arsenal win/Aubameyang Win/Score double is 8/5 with Paddy Power.

Guess who the referee is on Monday night? It's only Mike Dean. That means one thing. Bookings. Mr Dean is averaging 44.19 booking points per game. He can't help himself.

The forecast on Monday night for the capital is for a drizzly evening. That means slide tackles. With Crystal Palace's pressing game, they will be in and about the faces of the Arsenal midfield, and with the trickery of Wilf Zaha off the front man, Arsenal's defensive midfielders will be under pressure.

Normally you'd fancy Granit Xhaka to be booked in these conditions, however he's out injured. His replacement Albert Sambi Lokonga has already 12 tackles this season (the most by any Arsenal player) and also has two bookings (again the most by any Arsenal player). He's best priced at 4/1 with Paddy Power to pick up another card on Monday.

Best Bets

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang/Arsenal – Score/Win Double (8/5 Paddy Power)

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace – Albert Sambi Lokonga to be booked (4/1 Paddy Power)