Postpublished at 20:31 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December
We're wrapping our coverage of today's action up now but as ever you can see all the highlights from the games on Match of the Day on BBC One and iPlayer from 22:30 GMT.
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Gabriel Jesus scored twice as Arsenal put five past Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to move to within three points of the top of the Premier League.
It took the Brazil striker's tally against the Eagles to five in a week, following his Carabao Cup quarter-final hat-trick on Wednesday.
But there was a setback for the Gunners as Bukayo Saka limped off in the first half.
Jesus scored two in the first half before Kai Havertz made it three, with Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice adding further goals after the break.
Arsenal struck first in the sixth minute, Saka's cross was deflected into the path of Jesus and he fired past Dean Henderson at the near post.
The Eagles were level just five minutes later when Ismaila Sarr curled an excellent effort in the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Arsenal then went ahead again just three minutes later. A dangerous corner was not cleared and Thomas Partey teed up Jesus, who curled a shot into the top corner.
Jesus then almost registered his second hat-trick in a week when his header hit the post, but the ball bounced out and Havertz was on hand to tap in from close range for the Arsenal third.
Both sides had chances to score more in the first half, Jean-Philippe Mateta had a close range effort saved by Raya before Gabriel headed a Martin Odegaard corner against the bar.
Palace started the second half brightly but Arsenal kept them out before Martinelli diverted in substitute Rice's shot.
Rice himself then got on the scoresheet as he curled in an excellent strike for the Arsenal fifth.
Arsenal are now three points behind leaders Liverpool, although they have played two games more.
Mikel Arteta said that he hoped that Jesus' hat-trick in midweek would give him the 'spark' he needed to find his scoring form in the Premier League.
And Arteta's hopes came true as Jesus looked revitalised - scoring his first Premier League goals in almost 11 months.
The forward has registered seven goals during 2024 - and five of them have come against Crystal Palace this week.
Before those five goals, he had struck five times in his previous 45 matches.
Arsenal have been criticised in recent weeks for their chance creation from open play but in the past two matches, and particularly this game, they have looked back to their best.
The biggest worry for Arteta will be the severity of Saka's injury.
The 23-year-old, who has 52 goals and 44 assists since 2019, is key to this Arsenal side and they will need him if they are going to mount a serious title challenge for the third season in a row.
Before he limped off, he made his 250th appearance for Arsenal, making him the the youngest Englishman to do that for the club.
Crystal Palace came into this match in relatively good form after a tough start to the season.
They had only lost one of their previous eight Premier League games, but were well beaten here.
It's been a tough week for the Eagles, who used predominantly the same players as featured in Wednesday's EFL Cup defeat, where the Gunners were able to make eight changes.
Palace were without Eberechi Eze, who picked up an injury in that fixture, and did tire in the second period.
The result leaves the Eagles four points clear of the relegation zone before they go to Bournemouth on 26 December.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 36 |
| |
2 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 34 |
| |
3 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 33 |
| |
4 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 19 | 4 | 31 |
| |
5 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 28 |
| |
6 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 25 | 4 | 27 |
| |
7 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 21 | 6 | 26 |
| |
8 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 25 |
| |
9 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 26 | 1 | 25 |
| |
10 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 24 | 22 | 2 | 24 |
| |
11 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 23 |
| |
12 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 23 |
| |
13 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 22 |
| |
14 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 30 | -8 | 20 |
| |
15 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 26 | -8 | 16 |
| |
16 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 15 |
| |
17 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 14 |
| |
18 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 32 | -16 | 12 |
| |
19 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 24 | 40 | -16 | 9 |
| |
20 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 36 | -25 | 5 |
|
Manager: Oliver Glasner
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: Oliver Glasner
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Crystal Palace have lost their last four Premier League meetings with Arsenal, having lost just one of their previous eight against the Gunners (W2 D5).
Arsenal have lost just two of their last 19 away league games against Crystal Palace (W10 D7), with both defeats coming in the Premier League by a 3-0 scoreline (April 2017, April 2022).
Crystal Palace have alternated between defeat (4) and victory (3) in their last seven Premier League home London derby matches, losing 2-0 against Fulham last time out at Selhurst Park.
Arsenal are unbeaten in all nine of their Premier League London derby matches in 2024 (W7 D2). The last team to go unbeaten in such matches in a full calendar year were Chelsea in 2005 (W9 D1), while the last time Arsenal did so was in 2004 (W7 D3).
Having lost five of their first eight Premier League games this season (D3), Crystal Palace have now lost just one of their last eight (W3 D4), and are unbeaten in their last five (W2 D3). The Eagles are looking for back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since a run of three in May.
Arsenal kept nine clean sheets in 10 Premier League away games between February and September, but since then have conceded in each of their last six on the road. The Gunners last had a longer run without an away shutout between August and December 2019 (7).
Excluding penalties, Arsenal have scored more set piece goals than any other side in the Premier League this season (9). Meanwhile, 35% of Crystal Palace’s 17 Premier League goals this term have come from set pieces (excluding penalties), with only Everton (57%) netting a higher such share.
No team has had more Premier League goals scored via defenders this season than Arsenal (7, level with Manchester City), while Crystal Palace have had the highest share of their Premier League goals this term come from defenders (29% - 5/17).
Since joining Crystal Palace from Arsenal earlier this season, Eddie Nketiah has had 20 shots in 11 Premier League games without scoring. Four players have had their first Premier League goal for a club come against Arsenal having previously played for the Gunners in the competition – Kevin Campbell (Nottingham Forest, 1995), Nicolas Anelka (Bolton, 2006), David Bentley (Tottenham, 2008) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (West Ham, 2023).
Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli has scored more Premier League goals against Crystal Palace than he has vs any other opponent (5). Three of these have been as a substitute, with no Gunners player scoring more from the bench against a specific opponent in the competition.