The Gunners will help Palace open the Premier League campaign on Friday night, boosted by recent signings such as Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira.
Vieira, the Palace manager, made clear that Palace are expecting a new and altogether tougher test.
“It will be a completely different game,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “I think with the new players they have in the squad of course they are a better team. They had really good games during the pre-season.
“I think they’re in a better place than last year. The new players they’ve brought in, they are much stronger. They have the squad to challenge and be closer to the title.
“We know that it is going to be challenging but I believe that we have the tools to make it difficult for them, to make it challenging for them. Last year at home with the support we had we had some really good matches, and it will be important to keep it that way.”
But Vieira stressed he feels Arsenal aren’t the only side to have changed, with Palace welcoming four new recruits over summer. He said development is the aim for 22/23, and that the south Londoners can be better than they were in the last campaign.
“I believe we can be even more competitive than we were last year,” he said. “The game tomorrow will be important for us to start as well as we can.
“What was really important for us and for me is to keep that stability and try to improve the squad. A couple of players came on [board] and that will give us more challenges because what we want is players to make it difficult for me to choose the starting XI.
