John in London  informs me on text that Arsenal do have a number one - it's Wojciech Szczesny, who's on loan at Roma. Course it is. Still though. I'm not having Olivier Giroud at 12 and David Ospina being 13. It's not right.

I'm not aware exactly how you go about celebrating it but Arsenal fans, put your plans on ice. It looks like there will be no St Toteringham's Day, external  day this year. For the uninitiated, that's the day of the year Gunners fans celebrate finishing above Tottenham. 

It's happened every season since 1995, but this year Spurs have zoomed  14 points  ahead.

Still doable?

Image source, .

Emiliano Martinez is out there catching a few crosses. Get those hands toasty now in readiness for what's to come.

Arsenal's sub keeper is 22-year-old Matt Macey, who's never made a senior appearance for the side. 

Elsewhere in the ether tonight, Claudio Ranieri has been talking about his departure from Leicester City - the reasons he thinks he was sacked.

Refreshingly for the football world, he's gone in with the big guns, although without pointing them at anyone in particular...

"I can't believe my players killed me. No, no, no," he told Sky Sports.

"Maybe it was someone behind me. I had a little problem the year before and we won the title. Maybe this year, when we lose, these people push a little more."

You can follow that developing story over here.

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Lawrenson
Former Liverpool defender

If you offered a home draw to Eagles boss Sam Allardyce before kick-off, he would take it. I think he will get it, too.

Prediction:  1-1

Lawro's full predictions v singer Amy Macdonald.

John Southall
BBC Radio Five Live football reporter

Arsenal have never finished outside the Premier League top four under Arsene Wenger, while a Sam Allardyce side has never been relegated from the top flight. Will those proud records still be intact in six weeks' time?

You have to say it's in the balance, with both in precarious positions for contrasting reasons.

Palace, despite that remarkable win at Chelsea and four wins from five games, lie just three points above the relegation zone. Arsenal sit seven points off the top four with two games in hand.

The sight of Palace may bring a spring to Wenger's step - he's never lost a Premier League game against them. Now would be a deeply damaging time for him to start.

There's been a few barbs flying around the Arsenal boardroom.

Alisher Usmanov - the club's second-biggest shareholder - was speaking to Bloomberg, external  when he said: 

"I do not think that the coach alone is to be blamed for what is happening. All the responsibility for the fate of the club rests with the main shareholder."  

That's American  Stan Kroenke , by the way.

“Some continuity is needed," Usmanov added of Wenger's future. "This includes the need to prepare a successor, but in a very respectful way. I can suggest that Wenger himself can prepare a successor."  

Image source, Getty Images

Two Crystal Palace players are celebrating milestone appearances today. Stick a quid on either Andros Townsend or Joel Ward marking them with a goal. Or both of them.

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Anyone heard of this paper? Fun Times?..

Bayern Munich mocked-up the headline below after Saturday's victory over Borussia Dortmund. If you haven't seen it, Arjen Robben's goal was pure Andros Townsend. Does it work that way round?

Image source, @fcbayern

Crystal Palace's medical staff are busier than your local A&E department at the moment. The Eagles are without an almost full XI through injury, but are boosted by midfielder Yohan Cabaye shaking off a knock to start.

Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend, Christian Benteke. 

Subs: Speroni, Flamini, McArthur, Fryers, KaiKai, Sako, Delaney. 

Image source, #bbcfootball

Arsenal have injury problems of their own in the goalkeeping department. Emiliano Martinez starts for the second successive game as Petr Cech and understudy David Ospina are both sidelined through injury.

Centre-back Laurent Koscielny misses a second game with an Achilles problem, while midfielder Francis Coquelin returns after missing the win over West Ham due to personal reasons, but only makes the bench.

Arsenal: Martinez, Bellerin, Mustafi, Gabriel, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Walcott, Ozil, Welbeck, Sanchez. 

Subs: Gibbs, Mertesacker, Ramsey, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Macey.

Image source, #bbcfootball

So with Petr Cech and David Ospina out injured, a 24-year-old Argentina youth international has another chance to impress, under the lights.

Emiliano Martinez is rated highly - Wenger obliquely described him as  "world class", external  when explaining why he had no plans to sign another goalkeeper. 

A big night for Arsenal's number 26. There is no number one. Cech is 33 and Ospina 13. Sigh.

Image source, Reuters

A win would mean Palace equal their Premier League record of three consecutive home victories.

But the form book has more bad news for the south London crowd - Arsenal haven’t lost away to the Eagles in the top flight since November 1979.

And Arsene Wenger has never lost a Premier League game against them (W8 D3 L0).

Now then, if you're thinking a Sam Allardyce side might be odds-on to provoke an Arsenal unraveling, history actually suggests the opposite.

Big Sam has suffered more defeats by Wenger - 15 - than he has any other Premier League manager. 

But he has also won four and drawn seven of 26 meetings with the Frenchman.

Image source, Getty Images

Emiliano Martinez continues in the Arsenal goal as injury rules out Petr Cech and David Ospina.

No changes for the Gunners and no changes for Crystal Palace either. As you were. Full line-ups coming your way with fancy graphics.

BBC Radio 5 live

There's no full match commentary on BBC Radio 5 live tonight but there will be updates along the way as part of the Monday Night Club.

Tune in from 19:00 BST as Will Perry debates the weekend's football with guests Rory Smith, Charlie Adam and Chris Sutton.  

Proof that all good things come to an end was Wednesday, when Southampton stopped Crystal Palace's four-match winning run in a 3-1 victory at St Mary's. 

Still, those 12 points - earned through wins over Chelsea, Watford, West Brom and Middlesbrough - have come in very handy indeed. 

Sam Allardyce's side are now three points clear of the drop zone with two matches in hand on Swansea. 

Who saw that coming after February's 4-0 home defeat by Sunderland?

Image source, .

There's no two ways about it, these are lean times for the north London lot. Even asking an innocent question like what the time is (10-2) now draws an inevitable grimace.

Nothing a few re-runs of Dennis Bergkamp's greatest goals can't fix, you might think. But it's seemingly not so. This season feels different. 

Arsene Wenger has led Arsenal into the Champions League every year since 1998. If they are to chase down the seven-point gap on fourth, victory is a must tonight. 

Image source, Getty Images

It wouldn't be a proper Premier League weekend without Arsenal, would it?

Two days of actual football before this, the latest installment of the game's longest-running melodrama - in the Monday night slot.

Alexis Sanchez's training ground tantrum,planes pulling banners,  the infighting, the real, proper fighting, external ... all of it's been going on so long that surely now there's a series finale in sight.

Arsene Wenger's still not giving out any spoilers, so what plot twist can we expect at Selhurst Park?

I'd be happy for anything involving Jens Lehmann. Maybe he'll come back (again) and reveal he was a cyborg all along?

Image source, Getty Images

The signs were always there.