Crystal Palace face a tough trip to Arsenal tomorrow as they look to recover from their poor form and find a rare win.
Palace suffered defeat on Wednesday as they bowed out of the FA Cup against Everton, and fans expressed their frustrations towards Roy Hodgson.
Crystal Palace have hardly won all season, and despite Hodgson having some quality young players at his disposal, the football has been uninspiring, and results mediocre.
Nevertheless, pundit Chris Sutton has now claimed that Palace have enough quality to hurt Arsenal, who are out of form themselves, and explained what Hodgson may look to do to try and win at the Emirates.
Chris Sutton claims Hodgson will sit back against Arsenal
In his Premier League predictions column for the BBC, Sutton claimed that Palace have ways in which they can hurt Mikel Arteta’s side.
“Crystal Palace went out of the FA Cup against Everton on Wednesday but they definitely had one eye on this game with the substitutions Roy Hodgson made,” Sutton claimed.
“You know what Hodgson will do here – he will shut up shop and try to frustrate Arsenal, then hope to get something on the break, a lot like the Eagles did against Manchester City before Christmas.
“They have the quality to hurt Arsenal that way, but I still think this game is more about whether the Gunners can find a way through Palace’s defence.”
One saving grace for Crystal Palace?
There was little on display in the Everton defeat, or indeed in most Palace games this season which suggests they are ready to pull off a shock result, especially without Michael Olise, but they have fared well against tough opposition this season.
Palace secured a victory away at Manchester United, were incredibly unlucky to lose to Liverpool with 10 men after taking the lead, and fought back heroically to draw away at Manchester City.
The defence, and Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen in particular, stands out more on big occasions, and there is little to lose in the early kick-off in North London as Palace come in as heavy underdogs.
