Written by Kieran Miller

Tonight was the opening game of the new Premier League season, and it did not disappoint. Patrick Viera’s men would face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at a sold-out Selhurst Park.

ARSENAL: The Gunners would use the same line-up that was used in their 6-0 win against Sevilla who they faced last week. Arteta used a 4-2-3-1 which undoubtedly helped utilise the midfielders Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka.

GK: Aaron Ramsdale

LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko (83′)

LCB: Gabriel

RCB: William Saliba

RB: Ben White

RDM: Thomas Partey

LDM: Granit Xhaka

LM: Gabriel Martinelli

AM: Martin Odegaard (90+3′)

RM: Bukayo Saka

ST: Gabriel Jesus (83′)

Subs: Matt Turner, Cedric Soares, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney (83′ Zinchenko), Reiss Nelson, Sambi Lokonga (90+3 Martin Odegaard), Mohamed Elneny, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah (83′ Gabriel Jesus).

CRYSTAL PALACE: The Eagles made 1 change from their 4-2 win against Montpellier. Only one of Palace’s recent signings played that being midfielder, Cheick Doucoure who arrived from RC Lens. Unlike Arsenal, Patrick Viera set up in a 4-3-3.

GK: Vicente Guaita

LB: Tyrick Mitchell

LCB: Marc Guehi

RCB: Joachim Andersen

RB: Nathaniel Clyne

RCM: Eberechi Eze (86′)

CM: Cheick Doucoure (75′)

LCM: Jeffrey Schlupp (86′)

LW: Wilfried Zaha

ST: Odsonne Edouard (58′)

RW: Jordan Ayew

Subs: Sam Johnstone, Chris Richards, Joel Ward, Luka Milivojevic (75′ Doucoure), Malcolm Ebiowei (86′ Eze), Jairo Riedewald, Will Hughes (86′ Schlupp), Jean-Philippe Mateta (58′ Edouard), Luka Plange.

Throughout the opening 25 minutes, Arsenal were clearly the better side, with Gabriel Martinelli squandering a golden opportunity. Fortunately, he made up for his extraordinary mistake by scoring from a set piece that came straight from the training ground. Several of Crystal Palace’s excellent chances were prevented magnificently by Aaron Ramsdale and William Saliba. Both of Arsenal’s recent signings Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus started and for many long time Arsenal fans, it was a calming breath of fresh air. Jesus made runs that former striker Lacazette wouldn’t have been able to do because of his pace. During Arsenal’s pressing system, he won the ball high upfield, but Martin Odegaard failed to efficiently convert the unique opportunity. Ben White started on the right side over the injured Takehiro Tomiyasu and it wasn’t the best performance from the Englishman. He made many errors and was lucky to see one of his errors didn’t lead to a Crystal Palace goal. Zinchenko’s arrival has introduced many questions as to where he would play, and today gave insight into where he would play. The Ukraine international played left-back but did typically rotate with Granit Xhaka many times during direct attacks and when Zinchenko would go upfield. The 25-year-old was overwhelmingly dominated in the air which was reasonably expected as he is only 5’7.

Crystal Palace started on the back foot and they managed to keep their defence strong throughout the game. Many fans were interested into how the season would go as they recognized their most reliable player last season, Conor Gallagher returning to Chelsea. Gallagher would generate chances out of nothing, and they had to rely on Eze making those chances tonight so he was relaxed in a roaming position. They struggled to convert great chances, and they had the same number of chances as Arsenal did. The project at Palace is great, and the way they are advancing is steering them to a prosperous future under Patrick Viera