Arsenal are flying high in the Premier League and can extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points with a win over opponents Crystal Palace on Sunday. Following the heartache of elimination from the Europa League on penalties in midweek, the Gunners can bounce back and have a great opportunity to strengthen their position domestically, with rivals Manchester City busy with FA Cup action. Every point will count between now and the season finale, particularly with a mouth-watering clash between the two title hopefuls at the Etihad Stadium on April 26 to come.
We have 11 finals to go and that’s it, that’s the main focus now,” Martin Odegaard told us after our penalty shoot-out defeat to Sporting CP. “It starts already now in the dressing room to recover well and change the focus, so that’s what we have to do.” Our record in London derbies during 2022/23 has been nothing short of faultless. We head into the weekend’s fixture aiming to become the first team in the capital to win nine derbies in the same season. A victory would take us eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, with Manchester City hosting Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-final. UK fans won’t be able to watch Arsenal’s clash with Crystal Palace live on TV on Sunday despite Sky Sports not having a Premier League match to broadcast for their Super Sunday coverage
A home clash with relegation battlers Palace has arguably been made more complicated for Arsenal this week, though, after the Eagles sacked their manager, former Gunners captain Patrick Vieira. Despite being on a run of 12 games without a win, Palace will hope Vieira’s dismissal will spark a reaction from the players in what could be a potential banana skin for the league leaders. Well it seems Sky Sports’ Super Sunday has fallen victim to the FA Cup again, after their two chosen fixtures originally selected for broadcast were rearranged. Sky Sports had initially planned to cover Brighton’s meeting with Manchester United at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, followed by Manchester City’s clash with West Ham in the prime-time late afternoon slot. But due to Brighton, Man City and Man Utd all making it through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, their respective Premier League fixtures have been rearranged, while West Ham do not have a match scheduled for this weekend.
s a result of the changes, Sky Sports have been left without a Premier League game to cover, even though Arsenal’s match with Crystal Palace kicks off at 2pm and will not be televised. The three fixtures taking place in the FA Cup on Sunday – Sheffield United vs Blackburn, Brighton vs Grimsby and Man Utd vs Fulham, are all being shown on terrestrial channels BBC and ITV as they have the rights to the competition. It is a blow for Sky Sports, as well as UK-based Arsenal fans, who will have to wait until late on Sunday evening to catch highlights if they do not have a ticket to watch the game live. Match of the Day 2 will be showing highlights from 10:30pm, while Sky Sports will have extended highlights available to watch from 10pm.
