Arsenal must avoid defeat to Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium if they are to stop Liverpool from winning the Premier League title.
Wednesday’s game will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event, kicking off at 8pm.
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Arsenal predicted lineup vs Crystal Palace
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling
Arsenal team news vs Crystal Palace
Arsenal may be without seven players for Wednesday’s London derby. Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are dealing with major injuries and will both be unavailable for the rest of the season.
Arteta revealed at the start of the month Gabriel will have surgery on a hamstring issue, with the aim to be ready for the beginning of next season. Meanwhile, Riccardo Calafiori is set to be sidelined with his knee injury until the end of April.
Also absent from the Gunners’ back line is Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has suffered a setback in his return from injury and now isn’t expected back until the end of the year.
With Arsenal set to face Paris Saint-German in the Champions League semi-final next Wednesday, it is unlikely Mikel Arteta will risk Bukayo Saka against Palace, after he suffered a knock in his side’s 0-4 win over Ipswich Town on the weekend.
Capping off Arsenal’s absentee list is Jorginho, whose recovery timeline is currently unknown.
Earliest Premier League title-winners
A win for Arsenal over Palace will mathematically keep the Premier League title race going for a few more days. But defeat at the Emirates would crown Liverpool champions of England for a record-equalling 20th time, matching rivals Manchester United.
With five games still to go, let’s look at where Arne Slot’s side would rank among the earliest Premier League title-winners.
The earliest title win came in 2019-20 by none other than Liverpool, led by Jurgen Klopp at the time. There were whispers of the Reds achieving an invincible season until a shock 3-0 defeat to Watford in February. Nonetheless, Liverpool went on to take the title with a staggering seven games to go.
Behind them on the list are Man Utd, who won the title with five games to go ahead of Arsenal in 2000-01. Also matching this number were Manchester City in 2017-18, who bested Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd side with a handful of games left.
The Red Devils won the title twice with four games to go – in 1999-00 and 2012-13 – while Arsenal also managed such a feat during their invincible season in 2003-04.