Arsenal v Palace

Emirates Stadium, Saturday 5.30pm

Keith Millen

Team news

Palace

Caretaker manager Keith Millen will decide on the day whether Julian Speroni or Wayne Hennessey will start in goal for Palace.

He will be expected to also give debuts to Brede Hangeland, Martin Kelly and Fraizer Campbell.

Damien Delaney (knock), Adrian Mariappa (rib) and Jonny Williams (thigh) might not make the game.

Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has Laurent Koscielny available for selection after recovering from an Achilles problem that he picked up during their 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Charity Shield.

The Gunners German trio of Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil won't be available for the game as they were given extra time off after Germany's World Cup triumph.

New signings Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez should make their debuts in what will be an extremely tough opening match for the Eagles.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"We had a brief meeting this morning and I told them [the players] Tony loved working with them," Millen said.

"Confidence-wise, it [his departure] shouldn't affect us at all.

"It's not ideal – we were saying how well pre-season had gone, we had a near enough fully-fit squad – but now we've lost a manager. So it's going to be tough, but we're organised. It's not like I've come in and tried to drastically change what we are doing.

"I know the fans will be upset and probably annoyed, but we can't let it distract us from going to the Emirates [Stadium] tomorrow. We have to focus purely on the Arsenal game, both physically and mentally. When we do that, we are a match for any team."

Arsene Wenger

"It was a complete surprise to me [Pulis leaving]. He did a remarkable job last season.

“It was a miracle what he did. I don’t know why he left but it took me by surprise. What sort of consequence that will have on Palace on Saturday, I don’t know.

”I was with him at a managers’ meeting on Monday and saw no signs of his departure coming.”

Arsenal - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
1st	0	0	0	0	0

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
02/02/2014	League	Arsenal	2 - 0	Crystal Palace
26/10/2013	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Arsenal
14/02/2005	League	Arsenal	5 - 1	Crystal Palace
06/11/2004	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Arsenal
25/02/1998	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Arsenal

All time results

Last meeting

Arsenal 2-0 Palace

Sunday February 02 2014

Arsenal: Szczesny, Mertesacker, Sagna, Monreal, Koscielny, Podolski (Rosicky, 72), Cazorla, Ozil (Gibbs, 84), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arteta, Giroud (Bendtner, 84)

Subs not used: Gnabry, Fabianski, Zelalem, Jenkinson

Goals: Oxlade-Chamberlain (47, 73)

Bookings: Mertesacker

Palace: Speroni, Gabbidon, Ward, Parr, Delaney, Puncheon, Dikgacoi, Bolasie, Jedinak, Chamakh (Gayle, 82), Jerome (Bannan, 56)

Subs not used: Mariappa, Wilbraham, Guedioura, McCarthy, Hennessey

Bookings: Delaney, Chamakh