Mikel Arteta urges Arsenal to send out a message to their title rivals by beating Crystal Palace

Arsenal head to Crystal Palace on Monday aiming to once again deliver a message about their Premier League title-winning credentials.

Manager Mikel Arteta believes his side changed the external view of what they could achieve after winning at Selhurst Park on the opening day of last season.

The Gunners won 2-0 as they began the campaign with nine victories from their first 10 league games, a far cry from the previous year when they crashed to defeat at Brentford.

Arteta’s side went into the September 2021 international break bottom of the table but proved last season they could hit the ground running.

They began this title tilt with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest and head south of the river looking to build on that. Arteta, for his part, was certain the perception of his side as a soft touch during tricky away trips under the lights was changed after last season’s win.

‘Yes, and it helps the confidence of the team when we go into games like this and impose yourself and send out that message,’ he said. ‘I’m more worried about the message we send to ourselves than any external one. But I think it was an important one. You have to go to these grounds and impose yourself and it’s very difficult to do that.

‘We had some experiences before at Brentford on that. It’s going to be different on Monday. They are extremely well organised, they don’t concede too much and it’s going to be a tough test for us.’

Adding Kai Havertz and Declan Rice to his ranks will also help Arsenal in physical games. ‘We have to have a physical game,’ Arteta added. ‘We have to be ready for that and now we have a squad more capable to play that game much better.’

Oleksandr Zinchenko could make his first Arsenal appearance of the season after a calf injury.

Pr