The festive round of Premier League fixtures concludes on Friday evening at the Emirates Stadium, when championship outsiders Arsenal and relegation aspirants Ipswich Town will face off.
The hosts celebrated Christmas at Selhurst Park last weekend, defeating Crystal Palace 5-1, while the Tractor Boys suffered a four-goal home defeat.
Sports writers throughout the country relished cracking out Gabriel Jesus Christmas puns on Saturday evening, some of which may have been more fitting for Easter, but the Brazilian has clearly been reborn, judging by his five goals in two games.
After guiding Arsenal to the EFL Cup semi-finals with a hat-trick against Palace, Jesus tortured the Eagles once more at Selhurst Park with a superb brace, before Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli, and Kai Havertz etched the Gunners’ name into history.
Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing was the sixth time in 2024 that they had scored at least five goals away from home – a feat no English top-flight club had ever accomplished in a single calendar year – and Mikel Arteta’s side is once again within touching distance of Chelsea.
Ipswich went from being the only Premier League team without a home defeat to being the only one without a home win after being battered and wounded by an Alexander Isak-inspired Newcastle United at Portman Road, where the scintillating Swede scored a 54-minute hat-trick.
The equally effervescent Jacob Murphy also scored in the first half as Ipswich became only the sixth Premier League club in history to lose their opening nine home games of the season; four of the previous five were relegated.
The Tractor Boys’ plight could only be more perilous if their name was Southampton, as Kieran McKenna’s side is bottom but one in the Premier League standings, but they are just two points behind Leicester City in 17th place, which is rather safe.
Embarrassing Arsenal at the Emirates may lift Ipswich beyond the dotted line, and eight of the visitors’ 12 points this season have come on the road, including three at the home of the Gunners’ arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in November.
McKenna’s team has also failed to score in just two of their nine road games this season, but their most recent trip to the Emirates in the 2010-11 EFL Cup semi-finals ended in a 3-0 second-leg defeat, before Arsenal fell to Birmingham City in the final courtesy to the infamous
Arsenal’s thrashing of Crystal Palace came at possibly the highest possible cost, as Hale End hero Bukayo Saka suffered a hamstring injury in the first half, which Arteta has confirmed will keep him out for “many weeks” amid reports of a two-month layoff.
Raheem Sterling’s knee injury has severely limited Arteta’s attacking options, as has the absence of defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu. In better news, Oleksandr Zinchenko may make a comeback from a muscle ailment.
Martinelli replaced Saka on the right at Selhurst Park, but the red-hot Jesus should be the first choice to step in for the Englishman in the coming weeks, as Rice’s expected midfield recall should propel Havertz forward.
Ipswich will also be missing a key cog for Friday’s meeting, but due to suspension rather than injury, as skipper Sam Morsy has received five yellow cards and is serving a one-match ban.
McKenna should bring in Kalvin Phillips as Morsy sits on the naughty step, but young striker Liam Delap is back from his own ban and might be a direct replacement for Conor Chaplin at the top of the attack.
Former Arsenal academy star Omari Hutchinson should return to the starting lineup despite being substituted at halftime last time out, although Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles), Janoi Donacien (fitness), George Hirst (knee), and Axel Tuanzebe (thigh) are all missing again.
Arsenal’s likely starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Jesus, Havertz, and Trossard.
Ipswich Town’s likely starting lineup: Muric; Johnson, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis; Cajuste, Phillips; Hutchinson, Szmodics, Clarke; Delap.
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