Many Arsenal fans convinced themselves, following the heavy spending in the summer, that their club would go out and throw the money around when January came.
The reality is that due to the amount spent in the summer, it is unlikely that Mikel Arteta’s side can go out and spend big in the transfer window.
FFP would be a huge issue for such landmark singings such as the £105m signing of Declan Rice and the £65m wildly spent on Kai Havertz.
Earlier in the season many pundits could only talk about Arsenal’s title challenge.
That period has been and gone as The Gunners suffered three defeats in their last six games.
Arsenal’s inability to score goals, despite dominating games, has been a massive concern for fans of the North London club.
The Eagles currently sit five points away from the bottom three but questions are starting to be asked whether Hodgson is the man to take the club forward.
One win in their last six Premier League games and a FA Cup third round exit against Everton in midweek has cast a murky cloud over Selhurst Park.
With Steve Cooper looking for work after his Nottingham Forest departure, many have asked whether a shake-up is required in the capital.
Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace to The Emirates with both sides looking to end a poor run of form, having had a Christmas fixture schedule to forget.
Gunners’ fans were pleased to see Jurrien Timber back running on the Dubai pitches during their winter training camp but is still a while away from a first-team return.
Thomas Partey and Fabio Viera are not expected back until next month, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are both away on international duty.
Question marks still remain over Oleksandr Zinchenko as he looks to recover from a calf muscle injury.
Gabriel Jesus has recovered from a minor knee injury which kept him out of the defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup.
For Crystal Palace, former Gunner Rob Holding will miss out on a reunion with his old side due to an ankle problem, while Michael Olise is still out with a thigh injury.
Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure are both in the Palace treatment room and it is unlikely that Jesurun Rak-Sakyi will make the squad for this game.
Jordan Ayew is away on AFCON duty with Ghana and will be sorely missed by The Eagles.