Well, the Palace fans are making an early show of their support by holding up coloured cards at one end, along with a giant crystal palace.

Needless to say, the Arsenal supporters in the ground are unimpressed!

Paul Davis, who won the top-flight title twice with Arsenal, is excited. The former midfielder has minutes to wait until he finds out whether his optimism might be justified.

Three Brazilian Gabriels start for Arsenal tonight. Jesus and Martinelli will be aiming to add South American firepower.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport

This season will be one where Patrick Vieira will be aiming to build on the good work he did in the 2021-22 campaign when the Eagles finished 12th on 48 points.

That return is impressive if you take into account that Vieira was taking over from Roy Hodgson, inheriting an aging squad, whilst bedding in a number of new players and a new playing style, all while dealing with the pressure of his first Premier League job.

The squad spent a portion of pre-season split into two groups because some players didn’t meet the entry requirements for Singapore and Australia on their pre-season tour, while others missed out for fitness reasons. That has meant that Vieira has had just over two weeks to work with the full group of players before taking on Arsenal on Friday night. It will be interesting to see if this has an effect on how the team do in the early parts of the season.

Vieira will have to deal with not having Conor Gallagher in his midfield this campaign but has Eberechi Eze back to full fitness and new signing Cheick Doucoure to slot into his plans. The opening game will start with a lot of questions and after that first 90 minutes the answer to the issues above should become clearer.

Patrick Vieira is concerned the first game of the season may come slightly too soon for his Crystal Palace squad.

The Eagles host Arsenal in the season opener at Selhurst Park on Friday evening but, after a number of players missed the pre-season tour of Australia due to fitness issues, Vieira is conscious that his side might look slightly under-prepared.

“We’ll find out tomorrow,” he said. “We didn’t have the best preparation.

“The game tomorrow will tell us a lot about where we are and which parts of games we still need to improve.”

Palace have made four signings this summer but lost influential midfielder Conor Gallagher, who returned to his parent club Chelsea at the end of last season.

“As a manager you always want more but so far I've been really happy with the players we’ve brought in,” he said.

“We’re short on numbers but we have a couple of weeks before the end of the market.”

Crystal Palace

You can get the latest on Crystal Palace's transfer links, loads of expert opinion and plenty of fan viewpoints on our dedicated Palace page.

The page is right here

You can bookmark it and come back each day. Or if you are using the BBC Sport app, when you land on the page, hit the bell icon and you'll get Palace notifications.

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• Crystal Palace have lost just one of their past eight Premier League games against Arsenal (W2 D5). The Eagles are looking to win consecutive league games against the Gunners for the first time in their history.
• Arsenal have lost their opening Premier League match in five of their past nine seasons (W4) after losing their first match in just one of their 19 campaigns prior to this run; the Gunners lost 2-0 to Brentford last term.
• Crystal Palace have won their opening top-flight league match in only five of their previous 22 seasons (D7 L10).
• Gabriel Magalhaes is the only current Arsenal player to have scored for the club in their Premier League opener, netting on his debut at Fulham in 2020-21.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport

Arsenal are going into this season with the aim of Champions League qualification after disappointingly missing out at the end of the last campaign.

Mikel Arteta has been backed by the club in the transfer market and he has managed to bring in some big signings in the likes of Fabio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus.

The striker position has been one Arsenal have had issues with in recent times. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave midway through last season and Alexandre Lacazette’s contract was not renewed.

Jesus has been brought in from Manchester City and tasked with getting Arsenal the goals that will help take them into the Champions League for the first time in seven seasons.

He has had a very impressive pre-season, scoring seven goals in five friendlies. He adds energy and some more quality to a front line of players that features Emile-Smith Rowe, Bakayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.

Jesus comes fresh from winning another Premier League title and Arteta will be hoping that his mentality to win will rub off on the young players around him.

Eze has been playing alongside Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jeffrey Schlupp in in pre-season, stylishly setting up Wilfried Zaha's opener in their 4-2 win over Montpellier at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

"That’s the type of performance we need to put in [against Arsenal], which is the important one," the 24-year-old told the club afterwards, describing his role in central midfield as "fun".

Richard: Not sure if Zaha and Jesus, after the money Arsenal have spent, is a terribly fair comparison.

Image source, Getty Images

There is a rule change over substitutions this season, with clubs now allowed five during the course of a game rather than the previous three (plus concussion subs).

The Premier League did allow five changes when the 2019-20 season resumed after its Covid-19 suspension, but reverted after complaints were raised that the change favoured clubs with greater squad depth.

Now the quintet of possible changes is back. To see how the rule change might impact on England's top flight, click here.

Image source, Getty Images

As I'm sure you'll have read, Premier League players will stop the pre-match anti-racism gesture of taking the knee before every match.

Top-flight clubs started doing so to support the Black Lives Matter movement, which rose to prominence following the death of George Floyd in the United States in May 2020.

Premier League captains took the decision this week after consulting with players.

Read more here.

Alan Shearer
Former England striker

The winter World Cup means this will be a Premier League season like no other, but one thing will be the same: it's between Manchester City and Liverpool for the title.

When I look at the group of teams immediately below them, Tottenham and Arsenal have both improved a lot, but I still don't think it will be enough for either of them to maintain a challenge.

There's a gap between the top two and the rest, not only because of the quality that we know City and Liverpool have got, but also down to their belief and a relentless drive for success that stems from their managers.

City, who have been champions in four of the past five years, are going for a hat-trick of titles. That's an achievement only Manchester United have managed in the Premier League era, which tells you how difficult it is, but it's in Pep Guardiola's sights now.

Read more here.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Last season - 12th

This season's prediction - 12th

Patrick Vieira made a big impression as Selhurst Park in his first season as manager but will have to do without Conor Gallagher this term after his outstanding spell on loan from Chelsea.

He will, though, have Cheick Doucoure, the Mali midfielder who Vieira was delighted to sign from Lens in a £21m deal. Sam Johnstone is a solid goalkeeping signing.

It will be intriguing to see whether Vieira can get an improvement out of Palace but I certainly do not expect to see them struggling.

See Phil's full Premier League predictions here

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Last season - 5th

This season's prediction - 5th

Arsenal, and manager Mikel Arteta, were left frustrated at missing out on Champions League football at the final hurdle last season but there is a lot to like about their summer transfer business and there is likely to be more to come.

I can see them challenging for the top four again with the signings of Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus - the rare instance of a deal being good for all parties - and his team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko adding not only quality but experience of what it takes to win under pressure. Fabio Vieira, a £34m signing from Porto, augments midfield strength.

It's a big season for Arteta but he has the complete faith of the Arsenal board and they have looked a million dollars in pre-season.

He needs a top-four finish and to be challenging for trophies and I fancy Arsenal might just do that. I do not see them as title contenders, though.

See Phil's full Premier League predictions here

Image source, BBC Sport

Defending champions Manchester City are going for a hat-trick of titles this season - but can anyone stop them from winning three in a row?

That is the next goal for City boss Pep Guardiola, who has already achieved the feat in Spain (Barcelona, 2008-11) and Germany (Bayern Munich, 2013-16) and has won a total of four league titles in six seasons at City.

Liverpool were City's closest rivals last time out, finishing only one point back, but will others challenge this time?

It is the start of a new era at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag but, after finishing sixth last season, can they even return to the top four, let alone sustain a serious title bid for the first time since they were last champions in 2013?

Will Chelsea be contenders again after a turbulent time off the pitch in 2021-22? Can Tottenham build on their fourth-placed finish? Could Arsenal get back into the Champions League places for the first time since 2016? Or will anyone else be in the mix?

We asked 23 BBC TV and radio pundits to pick their top four, with explanations for their selections, and you can see what they said by clicking here.

Arsenal

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports about new signings Jesus and Zinchenko: "We signed some very important players who bring a different mentality, they need to inspire our young players.

"We offer a different role within the team and the squad and they were looking for that within their career now. I am delighted to have them."

On Arsenal's pre-season: "I have really seen a different energy, a different flow, much more like I wanted."

Palace fans have not seen their side lose at home since a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on 19 February - a run of eight matches in all competitions including five wins.

The first victory on their unbeaten run was a 3-0 triumph against Arsenal on 4 April.

Alex Pewter, CPFC Insights, external

Two summers ago, Eberechi Eze was an injection of life into an otherwise stagnant side.

But an Achilles injury curtailed his debut season, forcing him to miss much of the Vieira-led revolution.

On his return, Palace carefully monitored his minutes and only increased them gradually.

Flashes of skill were on show, but the performances weren't the focus - the task was to get him ready for 2022-23.

Most of the squad's chess pieces are set on the table and the formation is embedded.

Adding a fully healthy Eze to that mix does have the feel of being another new signing.

It can take time to regain mobility and pace after his injury, but his flick and skilful run against Montpellier, leading to Wilfried Zaha's goal, removed any remaining doubt.

More encouraging still, he could press with the intensity required of the pair of "number 8s" in midfield.

Ball carriers able to beat their marker through the middle can often outweigh the threat from a wing due to the overloads they can create.

If Eze can replicate this in the Premier League on top of his set-piece taking, will he be a vital part of the system?