Arsenal copy Man City habit vs Crystal Palace as EPL title prediction made

Arsenal recorded a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, despte seeing Takehiro Tomiyasu sent off in the second half

Arsenal passed the first true test of their title credentials in their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The Gunners were faced with a well-organised Palace side, whose compact defensive shape saw the scores remain level at the interval. Arsenal eventually edged ahead of the hosts, courtesy of Martin Odegaard’s composure from the spot after Eddie Nketiah was brought down in the box.

However, shortly after taking the lead, the team were presented with another challenge as two quick yellow cards for Takehiro Tomiyasu saw the Gunners reduced to 10 men. After Arsenal held out to come away with three points, NBC Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham highlighted why the manner of the victory will have delighted Mikel Arteta.

"What I will say is look at the reaction from Arsenal, from the players, from the manager,” he said. “And what will have pleased Arteta more than anything? They had to grind this result out. They had to fight for this result.

“And this is an Arsenal team, which we said before the game, it’s a young team, but they are growing all the time and they understand and appreciate that you don’t just win games by playing nice football. Sometimes you’ve got to go to a place like Palace and grind it out, fight it out, and they did that really well.”

Higginbotham was alongside fellow analyst Robbie Mustoe, who took issue with the referee’s decision to award Tomiyasu a second yellow. However, Mustoe suggested that the hard-fought win at Selhurst Park is perhaps the first sign that Arsenal have learned lessons from last season as the Gunners look to bridge the gap between themselves and Manchester City.

“I