'We need' - Oliver Glasner makes team news admission ahead of Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has already admitted he will make changes for Wednesday night’s Premier League clash with Arsenal. Palace and the Gunners face off at the Emirates Stadium in a game that - realistically speaking - neither team will want to play.

The Eagles have an FA Cup semi-final with Aston Villa this weekend, and so none of their players will want to pick up an injury ahead of that one, and the same goes for Arsenal, who have their Champions League semi-final first leg with PSG next Tuesday. The extra rest would be more than welcome for both sides here, but this is another game that will need to be ticked off.

Mikel Arteta spoke over the weekend about the need to keep up rhythm and momentum, expressing caution despite still being likely to make some changes. Glasner appears to be thinking similarly, but he has made it clear he will make changes.

“It’s everything – [balancing] all the minutes with players who have played in the last games,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “We are in a good situation that the players are fit, and we want them to stay fit, and therefore we’re always monitoring their minutes.

“I mention it quite often: it’s a three-game week. It’s not a big problem but now it’s the second three-game week, and they’re very intense games, so we have to look at what’s best and which players are in the best shape. It doesn’t mean we make 10 changes tomorrow, but maybe two or three. It’s not because we value the Saturday game more than tomorrow’s – it’s just we need to be physically top fit and mentally top fit to be competitive against Arsenal.”

Glasner also confirmed that Ben Chilwell will miss this one, saying: “Not injury, but sickness – Ben Chilwell is sick, unfortunately. He should have started but couldn’t come to training – all others are fit.”

Glasner on Palace’s strange fixture list

Palace have had a busy run of fixtures of late, though they also had an extended break in March, combining for a strange fixture list overall. “To be honest, before the [March] international break, with the postponed Newcastle game, it’s not so fluid – three weeks with no game, then five games within two weeks,” Glasner said.

“And also players, then, being suspended, like Will Hughes had a two-game suspension [which ruled him out for two matches previously], Marc [Guéhi] a red card, and some players being sick – not injuries, but being sick. The last few weeks didn’t feel like the weeks before, where the players could train together and play together. We have to deal with this situation, and the players dealt really well with all the circumstances against Bournemouth.

“We’re looking forward to the ‘Champions League week’ – playing the semi-finalists and quarter-finals within the space of three days! It’s our ‘Champions League week’!”

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