A late Olivier Giroud header against kept Arsenal just about within touching distance of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City on Boxing Day as the Gunners edged to a 1-0 win over a competitive West Brom side.
Crystal Palace couldn’t quite earn a win in Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge, Troy Deeney’s penalty putting pay to that, but they will head to the Emirates Stadium in good spirits and hoping to pick up a memorable first win under their latest manager.
Here are three key stats ahead of the game:
31 – Arsenal successful on New Year’s Day
A rare record stretching back longer than Arsene Wenger’s reign as Arsenal manager is the Gunners impressive unbeaten stretch on New Year’s Day – 31 years.
Admittedly, Arsenal have only played eight times on New Year since 1985, but history suggests that it is a very profitable day for the team, winning six and drawing two of those encounters.
As for Crystal Palace, they’ve not won on January 1st since 1996, when they beat Portsmouth. They will hope to change that record in 2017.