Two former Arsenal midfielders pit their wits against one another in the Selhurst Park dugouts on Monday night as Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace welcome Mikel Arteta's Gunners for a Premier League London derby.

The Eagles managed to hold Manchester City to a goalless stalemate before the international break, while Arsenal's top-four charge gathered momentum with a 1-0 win at Aston Villa.
One week on from being inducted into the Premier League's Hall of Fame for his endeavours as the driving force of Arsenal's midfield, Patrick Vieira will surely envisage no better way to celebrate the accolade than by getting one over his former club, and his current squad are no pushovers.

The Eagles boss will hope that the recent international break has not disrupted his side's momentum, as Palace strung a six-game unbeaten run together in all tournaments and advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after putting four unanswered goals past Everton, with Chelsea now lying in wait at Wembley.

With Brighton & Hove Albion failing to get the better of Norwich City on Saturday, Palace remain 12th in the rankings at the time of writing, and top-half side Aston Villa are only two points ahead of them following their recent loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Keeping three clean sheets on the bounce in all competitions is just what the doctor ordered before Palace try to quell Arsenal's youthful attacking forces, but for all of their resilience in recent weeks, a record of two wins from their last 10 Premier League matches is still underwhelming.

Furthermore, the goalless draw with Man City stretched their winless run at Selhurst Park in the Premier League to five games since overcoming Norwich City on December 28, and Arsenal have been nothing if not ruthless on rival turf since the turn of the year.

MATCH PREDICTION
Crystal Palace 2-1 Arsenal

SOURCE