By florida 
Alright, so today I was trying to figure out Crystal Palace’s possible lineup against Arsenal this weekend. Woke up early, brewed some awful instant coffee, and just started digging.
First step – injury check
Grabbed my phone and went straight to Palace’s official social media feed. Saw that Olise’s still out with that hamstring thing – huge bummer. Then checked fan forums where this bloke Dean who claims to be a physio mentioned Guehi might be fit after training yesterday. Took that with a grain of salt though.
Formation headache
Remembered last week’s match against Brentford where Roy played that weird 4-3-3/5-2-3 hybrid. Scribbled both formations on a napkin while my toast burned. Decided Arsenal’s wingplay means we’ll probably go:
- Five at the back – Clyne definitely starting after Mitchell’s red card
- Double pivot – Hughes & Lerma just to disrupt Ødegaard
- Eze false nine – saw him doing this in training videos
Crossed out three different versions because let’s be real – Hodgson ain’t getting fancy against title contenders.
Key player debate
My mate Dave texted “IT’S ALL ABOUT EZE” in caps. Almost dropped my coffee agreeing. Watched his press resistance stats against high blocks – mad numbers. Then remembered White’s been shaky against tricky dribblers. Scribbled “Eze vs White = bloodbath” in my notebook. But honestly? Think Andersen’s long balls to Mateta could surprise everyone if Arsenal push up too high.
Final prediction took like four revisions. Ended up with:
Andersen-Guehi (if fit)-Richards back three;
Clyne-Ahamada holding;
Schlupp-Lerma-Eze midfield chaos;
Mateta and Ayew up top bullying defenders.
Whole thing took three hours and two coffee refills. Probably still wrong but hey – that’s why we love this madness innit?