PL talking points: Can Arsenal get scoring again as Toney returns for Brentford?
Four games without a win, three defeats on the spin, just two goals in that period, and one - a tap-in - from open play. Instead of showing cool finishing in this chilling weather, Arsenal have frozen in front of goal.
It meant the winter break couldn't come quick enough for the Gunners as the dismal run dampened their title charge.
Mikel Arteta took his Arsenal team - and their families - on a "phenomenal" 10-day retreat to Dubai in an attempt to boost their confidence. Whether it worked will be determined by Arsenal's performance against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
A January addition up front looks "unrealistic" so Arteta has to boost his Arsenal from within. The good news is that Gabriel Jesus returned to training during the warm-weather retreat after his minor knock. The bad news is that he was Arsenal's most wasteful forward before the break.
Arsenal need to use this game against Palace, plus the away trip to Nottingham Forest on January 30, to get the goals flowing again. As after that lies a home game against Liverpool on February 4, live on Sky Sports.
Lose that one, and Arsenal and Arteta may just bump the Champions League to the top of the priority list. As the Premier League top spot could be out of sight by then…
Sam Blitz
"I think we're going to give them a little bit more cheer in the second half of the season."
Roy Hodgson made Crystal Palace fans a promise amid a dismal run of form. The question is: how long can he last?
Ten months ago, Patrick Vieira was sacked with the Eagles on a run of no wins in 12 and three points above the relegation zone. Hodgson's Palace are five above the bottom three and on a run of one win in 11. The 76-year-old runs the risk of being removed from the problem he was asked to fix.
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