Arsenal vs Crystal Palace injury news with four doubts and three players out

Arsenal will play host to London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening, as the visitors look to continue their five-game unbeaten run.

The Gunners meanwhile will want to get back to winning ways after a disappointing 0-0 draw against strugglers Everton on Saturday, in a game where Mikel Arteta’s side were unable to find the net.

The game will decide who makes it to the Carabao Cup semi-final and remain in the running to win the first piece of silverware this season. Arsenal could be without up to four players for the clash against Palace due to injuries, while Palace could be without three themselves.

Arsenal injury news

Defender Riccardo Calafiori could return against Palace, despite missing the Gunners’ draw against Everton with a knee injury.

There was a chance he could have returned for the game on Saturday, but Arteta decided to play it safe with the Italy international. He said: “We're just respecting the times that the medical department has set, and then we’ll just monitor his evolution every single day.

“We understand that he’s not fully ready yet, but he's getting very close now.”

Furthermore, Oleksandr Zinchenko remains injured with a muscle issue which he suffered during the Gunners’ 2-0 win against Manchester United earlier this month. He should expect to be ready for the Palace game as it is only thought to be a minor injury and shouldn’t keep the Ukrainian out of action for long.

Takehiro Tomiyasu is still out with his knee injury that he has been recovering from for the entirety of the season so far. He will still be out for several weeks, meaning that Tomiyasu is unlikely to return until the new year.

Ben White underwent surgery on his knee in November, meaning he will be out for at least a couple of months depending on how well his recovery goes. As things stand, a March return looks most likely for White.

Arsenal players out: Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu

Arsenal players in doubt: Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko

Crystal Palace injury news

The Eagles could be missing three players for their trip to the Emirates, with the first being Joel Ward who was originally expected to play against Brighton over the weekend.

However, the defender wasn’t quite ready for the game, as Oliver Glasner said before the match: “We have a bit of a question mark with Joel. He has some issues with his calf, but let’s see how it goes.”

Furthermore, midfielder Adam Wharton is expecting to return from injury against Arsenal too after being out for several weeks. He is now back in training.

Glasner said: “He had a little bit of a reaction after [training]. [They were] very intense sessions, and so we had to reduce his workload. It’s looking like nothing serious. Let’s see if he’s available for the Arsenal game [midweek] or maybe at the weekend.”

Finally, Matheus Franca remains out with a long-term injury which is expected to keep him out until the new year.

Glasner said: “'He's training individually, and his progress gets better and better. It looks like he will join us in team training, if everything goes in the right direction, early in the New Year. For the December games, he's not available.”

Crystal Palace players out: Mathues Franca

Crystal Palace players in doubt: Joel Ward, Adam Wharton