Arsenal to avoid opening night encore
It has become traditional that Arsenal look somewhat undercooked going into a season, but this time their hosts harbour more question marks. While Crystal Palace battered them at Selhurst Park in April, a rematch so soon appears to suit the visitors more and Patrick Vieira’s prediction of “a completely different game” seems hard to fault. Palace are yet to find a replacement for Conor Gallagher, whose energy was so fundamental to their better performances last season, while Cheikhou Kouyaté has left and the current injury list includes James McArthur and Michael Olise. Reinforcements have taken longer to arrive than Vieira might like, while Mikel Arteta has been able to strengthen in key areas and field something close to his favoured starting XI in recent friendlies. A year ago Arsenal’s Covid-weakened side began disastrously at Brentford, but a Friday night fright does not appear as likely this time around. Nick Ames
