Crystal Palace v Arsenal: as it happened 81 min Monreal has no support and decides to go on his own with a lovely run that ends when his close-range shot hits the back of Delaney. He may have been fouled in the act of shooting actually, although there were no appeals. 80 min Palace are pinning Arsenal back. Kebe's dangerous cross towards Chamakh is headed away splendidly by Mertesacker. If only the great Sid Waddell was still around to pronounce that name. David Hunt: "Best team goal has to be Terry Mac's headed goal against Tottenham in Liverpool's 7-0 win. Pure class. 77 min Palace's final substitution: Barry Bannan is replaced by the lively Dwight Gayle. 75 min Another great save! The resulting corner was cleared to the edge of the area, where Jedinak belted a magnificent volley back towards goal. Szczesny, who a second earlier had been in among bodies trying to punch the corner clear, leapt to his right to tip the ball over the bar. 74 min: Great save from Szczesny! This is a stunning stop. Ward, the right-back, played a nice one-two with Kebe on the edge of the box and crunched a curling, rising shot across goal. It clattered off the top of the bar and replays showed the slightest touch from Szczesny. 72 min Cazorla off, Monreal on. 71 min Guedioura has cramp and is hobbling off to be replaced by Jimmy Kebe. 69 min Wilshere replaces the substitute Serge Gnabry, who gets the Ali Dia treatment despite being one of Arsenal's better players. You can see why: Wenger presumably wants a tight 4-4-1 formation. 68 min Michael Owen is insistent it's a red card. Mark Halsey says it isn't. The more you see it, the more you see Owen's point of view, as the other defenders were a fair way behind Chamakh. You can see both sides; on balance I'm still not sure it was the right decision. I think Owen is seeing it through the eyes of an 18-year-old Michael Owen rather than those of a 29-year-old Marouane Chamakh. We have #controversy. Palace cleared a corner towards Chamakh on the right by the halfway line. He knocked it cleverly past Arteta, who brought him down either clumsily or cynically. Arteta was the last man - but Chamakh was on the right, he was 40 yards from goal and the other defenders were arguably close enough to make up the ground given they were running without the ball and Chamakh was running with it. Can you call that a clear goalscoring opportunity? I'm not sure it would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity for Lionel Messi, never mind Marouane Chamakh. Arteta is not impressed. He hands the armband to someone else and stomps off, a priceless look on his coupon. 62 min This is a decent spell for Palace, sparked by the impact of the substitute Bolasie. 61 min Guedioura tries a Trevor Sinclar overhead kick from 20 yards. It ends up by the corner flag. 60 min Arsenal break four on four after a poor ball fron Bannan. Jedinak muscles GIroud off the ball impressively. Giroud thought it was a foul; it wasn't. 59 min The substitute Bolasie skins Mertesacker, prompting primal cheers, before Sagna ruins everyone's fun with a good tackle on the edge of the box. 57 min Jerome Thomas, who has picked up an injury, is replaced by Yannick Bolasie. 56 min Moxey combines with Guedioura, whose return pass pushes Moxey a touch too wide in the box, and his shot from a prohibitive angle is straight at Szczesny. 54 min: Giroud misses a great chance! Koscielny hammered a superb crossfield pass to Sagna on the right. He took it down and then whipped a cross to the near post. Giroud was unmarked six yards out, just in front of the near post, but he mistimed the flick of his head and shouldered the ball well wide of the near post. 52 min Arsenal are all over Palace at the moment. Palace look vulnerable defensiveiy in a way they did not before half-time. 50 min Gnabry almost makes it two. Ozil, facing away from goal on the edge of the D, stunned a delicious short-range pass round the corner to put Gnabry through. Delaney came across and his attempted clearance hit Gnabry, from where it rebounded just wide of the near post. The pass from Ozil was outrageously good. Gnabry looks a decent player too. Crstal Palace 0-1 Arsenal (Arteta 47 pen) Arteta thumps an excellent rising penalty into the left corner of the net. Speroni went the right way but had no chance. 46 min Palace begin the second half. They are playing from right to left. And after 57 seconds it's a PENALTY TO ARSENAL! That was an easy decision for Chris Foy. Gnabry, on the right of the box, Cruyff-turned the sliding Guedioura, who was hopelessly duped and booted Gnabry up in the air with his trailing leg. "Lunacy" says penalty-winning expert Michael Owen. On BT, David James reckons that foul on Gnabry (after 39 min) was definitely inside the box. I'm not so sure, and less importantly nor are Steve McManaman and Owen Hargreaves. It's not a full-blown #controversy. Jacob Tree: "Thanks for posting the Jose Cardozo goal... glorious... That was like a Bobby Fischer finish, sped up and, er, interpreted on a football pitch. Does anyone know what I mean? Cardozo evidently has the Berbatovesque talent of seeming to have all the time in the world whilst actually running at full tilt. Half time: Crystal Palace 0-0 Arsenal Palace will be delighted with that. They took their medicine for 25 minutes, and defended with due diligence. Since then they have probably been the better side, and they have certainly had the better chances. 44 min Giroud bobbles a bouncing ball straight at Speroni from 15 yards. It wouldn't sit down for him. 41 min Chamakh misses a great chance! He was totally unmarked, eight yards out, when Jedinak shaped an inswinging cross towards him from the left wing - but Chamakh mistimes his jump hopelessly. He was up far too early and almost on his way down by the time the ball got to him. Had he timed his jump properly he would have had a fairly routine header at goal. 39 min Gnabry is fouled by Moxey, a fraction outside the area on the right. The free-kick produces the square root of sweet FA. 38 min Ramsey's fierce strike is saved by Speroni. Arsenal moved the ball around nicely before it was flipped down the side of the defence by Gnabry. Ramsey, at a very tight angle just outside the six-yard box, smashed the ball at goal and Speroni, whose positioning was just right, was able to beat it away. 36 min Palace are causing problems from set pieces. Bannan swirls a left-footed corner beyond the far post from the right. Szczesny goes chasing for it and gets nowhere near, but Dikgacoi can only thump his header into the advertising hoardings by the near post. The ball had too much pace for him to get it back whence it came, although it was still a chance of sorts. 35 min Cazorla almost puts Arsenal ahead. He was found just outside the six-yard box on the right by Ramsey, dummied Moxey sweetly to come back on his left foot and then crunched the ball across goal and just wide of the far post. Giroud was close to putting that in as well. 33 min It's all Palace! Bannan's deep free kick from the right is again headed back across goal by Jedinak to Gabbidon, 15 yards out. His chest/volley is blocked and the ball comes to Bannan, scooting into the area to follow up his own free kick. He tries to shape a left-footed curler into the far corner and overhits it a few yards wide. 30 min This is Palace's best spell of the match by a considerable distance. An intrepid angled run from the right-back Ward is thwarted by Arteta on the edge of the box. Ten seconds later, Guedioura shifts the ball away from Ramsey and hits a low 20-yard shot straight at Szczesny. Palace are winning 4-1, on goal attempts. 27 min Thomas is fouled by Ramsey, 40 yards from goal. Bannan floats it beyond the far post, where Jedinak heads it back across goal, but Arsenal clear. Palace win possession again, however, and Chamakh strikes a decent 25-yard shot that is comfortably saved by Szczesny, plunging to his right. Josephine Stevens: "I just pray they don't lose so my boyfriend will be able to smile." You could just stick a Barry White CD on? 25 min Jerome Thomas tries to score from a tight angle 30 yards out and drags a feeble effort well wide of the near post. "It was worth an effort," says Michael Owen. It really wasn't. 24 min So, Arsenal lost to Dortmund, and now they are struggling to break down Crystal Palace. Are they officially #incrisis yet? 22 min The lively substitute Gnabry combines well on the right with Sagna, whose cross is headed straight up in the air by Gabbidon. The keeper Speroni comes to claim, like a fielder under a skier, and drops it. It was an awkward ball, swirling in the wind. Luckily for Palace Gabbindon gets to the loose ball a fraction before Gibbs, who boots him up in the air like an old sock. Free-kick to Palace. 20 min See 12 min. Mark: "Twenty minutes gone and Arsenal haven't scored - it's a disgrace. Arsene should resign immediately. 17 min Ozil moseys infield from the left, plays the ball to Gnabry and floats into the box to receive an excellent return pass. He tries to cut back to Giroud from a tightish angle to the right of the area; it's fractionally underhit and Palace clear. 14 min Palace break down the left - into Arsenal's half and even their box, with Bannan heading Thomas's cross over the bar from 12 yards. Again it wasn't much of a chance. The replays suggest Chris Foy got the penalty decision right. Delaney was on the floor, with both arms perilously close to the ball, but he kept them away from it and then clumped the ball clear. 13 min A penalty appeal for Arsenal. Gnabry's plays in the overlapping Sagna on the right of the box. His low cross is well blocked by the sliding Delaney and comes back to Sagna. He tries to cross again, and again it hits Delaney, who was lying on the floor. But did it hit his hand? It looked a bit odd, although Chris Foy gave nothing. 12 min There's nothing new to add. Arsenal are passing Palace either to sleep or to death, I'm not sure which. It is, as Arsene Wenger once said of Barcelona, sterile domination. 9 min Arsenal have actually had 85 per cent of the possession. That's ludicrous. That said, Palace have been entirely comfortable defensively apart from that one quarter-chance for Giroud. 8 min Flamini has limped off, to be replaced by Serge Gnabry. It seems like it's a pulled groin muscle. That's a real worry for Arsenal, with those two big games coming up. Ramsey will drop into midfield with Gnabry moving wide. It's interesting that Wenger brought on Gnabry rather than Union Jack Wilshere. 7 min Opta stats show that Arsenal have had 110 per cent of the possession so far. 6 min Arsenal are doing to Palace what Barcelona did to them at the Emirates in 2010. Palace simply cannot get out, although their defensive shape has been fine. 5 min Crystal Palace have possession. For about two seconds. This is all Arsenal at the moment. 3 min A decent start from Arsenal. Ramsey and Ozil combine on the left, a budding football bromance, and the ball is shifted across the field before Thomas wins possession. Moments later Flamini sprays a long crossfield pass to Sagna. He dumps a cross into the middle, and Giroud heads over from 10 yards. He couldn't quite get over the ball, and thus it was only a half-chance at most. 2 min Michael Owen says it's a dry pitch, so it should turn later in the mat- hang on. It's also very windy. Mixer/in/put it. 1 min Arsenal kick off from right to left. They are in yellow; Palace are wearing red and blue. There's a very good atmosphere at Selhurst Park. 12.42 The players are on the field and shaking hands in the modern style. Put your last Malteser on this prediction: Palace 0-3 Arsenal. 12.35 It's been a dark few weeks for Palace, so here's a reminder of happier times. Alan Pardew's having the time of his life. 12.30 In other news, what are you up to tomorrow evening? 12.25 The FA is 150 years old today. Arsenal were once known as The Establishment Club, it's true, but what's this all about? It's one thing Liverpool wearing T-shirts in support of Michael Shields and Luis Suarez, but this is really beyond the pale. 12.18 Jake Humphrey has just asked Owen Hargreaves what he thinks of Sir Alex Ferguson's comments about him in Ferguson's book. Hargreaves' response was, for those who prefer SENSATIONAL HEADLINES, disappointingly mature and rational. In short he said he was surprised by the comments about his professionalism ("anyone who knows me knows that was one of my main strengths"), that the reason he joined United was to work with Fergie, that he was sad the relationship had broken down to such an extent ("maybe I should have spoken to him sooner") and that he would like to have a private chat with Ferguson about it. He said private chat in the familiar sense, not the in an Oleg Blokhin/"man conversation" way. 12.12 BT Sport (no jaunty rude hand gestures yet, no) have just done a voxpop of Palace fans, asking who they would like their next manager to be. "Avram Grant," deadpans one. The team news Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1) Speroni; Ward, Delaney, Gabbidon, Moxey; Jedinak, Dikgacoi; Bannan, Guedioura, Thomas; Chamakh. Subs: Price, Mariappa, O'Keefe, Puncheon, Kebe, Bolasie, Gayle. Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta, Flamini; Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla; Giroud. Subs: Fabianski, Monreal, Vermaelen, Wilshere, Rosicky, Gnabry, Bendtner 12.00 Jack Wilshere's strike against Norwich last week was one of the better team goals. What's your favourite team goal of all time? I'll start with this leftfield number. 11.30 Good morning. So, it took a ghost to give some life to Arsenal. Mesut Ozil was christened "The Ghost" by Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2010, a wonderfully lyrical description that was only marginally compromised when Ferguson decided to spend his money on Bebe instead. Ozil, along with the wildly underrated Mathieu Flamini - a kind of deluxe dog of war - have made Arsenal potential title contenders again. The operative word is potential. We should not get carried away. Arsenal are top of the table, and some of their football has been as pure as anything their great teams managed, but their fixtures have been relatively easy: Spurs are the only team in the top half of the table they have met thus far. Arsenal should take good care of managerless Crystal Palace today, possibly with another contender for second place in Goal of the Month. The real tests are to come: Liverpool next week, Manchester United the week after, then Manchester City and Chelsea in December. By Christmas we will know whether Arsenal have escaped the lonely mezzanine between the title challengers and the Champions League hopefuls, or whether a more realistic ambition will be a ninth consecutive finish in third or fourth place. 10.15 Good morning and welcome to today's live blog covering the Premier League's early kick off. The two sides involved could scarcely have more different fortunes of late. Crystal Palace lost their manager Ian Holloway earlier this week and have registered just one league victory this season. At the other end of the scale, Arsenal are flying high as league leaders and attempting to prove themselves as credible title contenders. Rob Smyth will be here with all of the pre-match build-up from about 11.30am. Until then, here is our match preview so have a read and do come back for the main event. Team News: Crystal Palace caretaker manager Keith Millen has no new injury concerns as he takes charge for the first time when his side welcome Arsenal to Selhurst Park on Saturday. Millen replaced Ian Holloway on a temporary basis and has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from for the visit of the Premier League table-toppers. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) will be assessed ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park. Match Notes: Palace have a huge task as they begin life after Ian Holloway. Stat of the game: 9. Aaron Ramsey has scored more goals for Arsenal (9) in all competitions than the entire Crystal Palace squad combined (7).