Arsenal once again come face-to-face with club legend Patrick Vieira on Monday night when they take on Crystal Palace in another huge Premier League clash. Mikel Arteta's side are bearing down on a fourth-place finish but Tottenham and Manchester United are in hot pursuit with just ten games left of the season.
The last meeting between the teams ended in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal will be looking to improve on that result this time out. But a boost comes the Gunners way in the shape of some significant injury problems in the Palace camp. Both Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise are doubts for the clash, meaning as many as four first-team stars could be missing for the Eagles.
Zaha picked up a knock as Ivory Coast were comfortably beaten by England during the international break. The Palace talisman has scored nine goals in the Premier League this season and would be a significant loss, while Olise has proven himself as one of the top-flight's most exciting attacking prospects, with the 20-year-old contributing to 13 goals already.
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"[Zaha] is still in the medical room," Vieira said in his pre-match press conference. "We will see how it is going to be tomorrow, but we have to wait for the next couple of days before thinking about him starting training with the squad.
"We will wait and see what happens. We have until Monday so hopefully, he will get better, and he can have a couple of days of training with the team. We have to wait and see what will happen over the next couple of days.
"We don’t know. The good thing about Wilfried is that he does not get injured very often. That is the hope about that. We just have to wait and see day after day."
Vieira then explained about Olise: "He just had an issue with his foot. Until he gets back from the French Under-21s, he is still in the treatment room as well. He is not ready to do some work outside.
"We have to wait day after day and see how he is feeling, and then we will see. Both of them still have a chance [of playing against Arsenal]."
Nathan Ferguson is also set to miss out with the versatile defender suffering another injury setback at the start of March that was expected to keep him out of action for six weeks. James McArthur is also a doubt after missing the FA Cup victory over Everton.
