Sam Allardyce has indicated that he is looking to be bring in at least two new players in the January transfer window after Crystal Palace were outclassed by a dominant Arsenal side at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
A first-half stunner from Olivier Giroud and then a header from Alex Iwobi in the second-half was enough for Arsenal to close the gap to Chelsea at the top of the table. But for Palace it was another disappointing showing which means the game against Swansea on Tuesday is now a must-win game for the Eagles.
Apart from Giroud’s beautifully improvised goal; one that was very similar to Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s one against Sunderland, Palace failed to deal with the Gunner’s fluent attacking play, and were fortunate that the overall scoreline wasn’t more than 2-0.
Palace rarely threatened throughout the game, except for a brief period after Iwobi scored the second as Christian Benteke, Yohan Cabaye, and Andros Townsend all had chances to try to claw the Eagles back into the game.
Allardyce admits Palace need ‘two players’ in the January window
It was always going to be difficult going to the Emirates to try to grab something, and the former Sunderland manager feels his side need a lift with the possibility of two players arriving in the window.
A lot of clubs will be on the lookout for new players and Allardyce understands that it is a tricky market, saying: "There are really high prices, especially in England with really high wages, paying over the odds."
Plenty of names have been linked with Palace over the past couple of weeks, but Allardyce feels the side needs ‘two new players’ instead of an influx of new talent.
Allardyce says Palace need to hold ‘their nerve’ against Swansea on Tuesday
With games coming at all angles there is no rest for Premier League clubs at the moment, and on Tuesday Palace face a must-win game against fellow strugglers Swansea at Selhurst Park.
"Swansea is the reverse of this one now, nobody expected us to win this, it's whether we can hold our nerve when everybody expects us to beat Swansea,” said Allardyce after the loss to Arsenal.
Like Palace, Swansea are also struggling and are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, so the game under the lights adds extra incentive for both sides.
But Allardyce has urged his players to go and get a positive result on Tuesday, saying: "We've got to make sure we win it, and we'll only do that by playing our best and producing our best form in that game."