Arsenal press conference LIVE – Mikel Arteta on Crystal Palace, Smith Rowe and

Mikel Arteta returns with his squad to London knowing that with the benefit of a weekend off his Arsenal side will have a distinct advantage over weekend opponents Crystal Palace. Roy Hodgson travelled to Goodison Park with his team to play their FA Cup replay meaning travelling back late last night from Merseyside has reduced the amount of preparation time for the tussle at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Palace will have a day to recover before then a Friday training session ahead of their trip from south to north London. Arteta knowing this has his squad in the best possible place of those that are available to make decisions on the selection.

There are question marks over Oleksandr Zinchenko who remains a doubt, and it is not expected any of Thomas Partey, Fabio Vieira or Jurrien Timber will be available. However, there is a positive of Gabriel Jesus’ return to the group following a knee issue which scuppered his hopes of playing in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.

With that said, football.london looks at three changes from the last game against Jurgen Klopp’s side Arteta should make bearing in mind the benefit of the extra rest. However, there is one position that should persist although the likelihood is not high.

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