Football betting tips: Premier League
1.5pts Arsenal to win and Under 3.5 Goals at 21/20 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
BuildABet @ 12/1
- Arsenal to win
- Mikel Merino to score anytime
- Daniel Munoz to commit 2+ fouls
- Dean Henderson 5+ saves
What awkward scheduling for Crystal Palace.
Given Arsenal's participation in the Champions League semi-finals, this gameweek 34 match-up has been moved to the Wednesday before Palace's FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Their weekend opponents, Aston Villa, played on Tuesday so have a day's extra rest, and both played last midweek too.
Should we expect the Eagles to rotate? It certainly makes sense, whereas with Arsenal not playing this weekend, the Gunners could go full strength.
There is a scenario after all where Palace win at the Emirates and in turn crown Liverpool as champions. Arsenal will want to avoid that for sure.
What are the best bets?
Across the last four seasons of FA Cup football, non-big-six semi-finalists have appeared seven times and have lost the game before the semi four times.
It comes as no real surprise as it's rare for clubs outside the so called 'big teams' to make it to this stage of the competition, so when they do they want to save themselves for the big game.
That's one reason to strongly fancy the hosts here, who, without a weekend game, will see this as their last opportunity to stay in rhythm ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg next week.
ARSENAL TO WIN AND UNDER 3.5 GOALS therefore looks a solid proposition.
There is every chance Arsenal race into a lead against a Palace team with one eye on the weekend, before calling off the dogs and cruising.
Defensively the Gunners haven't missed a beat in Gabriel's absence, looking incredibly solid against Real Madrid especially, and they should be able to hold Palace at bay.
Going the other way, Palace showcased at the weekend that they can batten down the hatches and be tough to beat, and they won't want to be hit for five again ahead of the biggest game of their season.
A controlled home win looks on the card, and by taking the under 3.5 goals we boost the price and have all of the favoured scorelines covered (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0).
Only three of Arsenal's home wins this season have seen four or more goals, with two of those coming against the league's bottom two.
Team news
Bukayo Saka will likely be rested after starting both games last week and taken a heavy blow in the win over Ipswich. Ethan Nwaneri could replace him.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was rested at the weekend and should be recalled, along with Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber.
Arteta remains without Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Riccardo Calafiori.
As for Palace, they could rotate somewhat with an FA Cup semi-final on Saturday meaning a short turnaround from Wednesday.
Chris Richards will be out for sure after being sent off at the weekend, meaning Nathaniel Clyne will come in to replace him, though Jefferson Lerma could also play centre-back.
Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are both out for the season, but Oliver Glasner has a fully-fit squad otherwise.
Predicted line-ups
Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Clyne, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; Mateta
Odds correct at 2150 BST (22/04/25)
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