Arsenal welcome Fulham to Emirates Stadium in a cross-London derby clash.
Victory would see Arsenal stay top of the table, whilst Fulham look to go as high as second depending upon results elsewhere.
Team News
Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns to report from last weekend’s win at Bournemouth as Reiss Nelson (muscle) remains absent.
Fulham have no fresh injury concerns to report after Tuesday’s shock Carabao Cup exit at Crawley which saw wholesale squad changes, as only Jay Stanfield kept his place in the starting line-up.
Neeskens Kebano (groin) is a doubt but Manor Solomon and Harry Wilson (both knee) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight meetings against Fulham (W6, D2).
- Fulham are winless in 15 away matches against Arsenal in the Premier League (D5, L10)
- Arsenal have kept just one clean sheet in their last four meetings against Fulham (W3, D1), which came in a 3-0 win on opening weekend of 2020-21 season in September 2020.
- Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have conceded in each of their last six league matches at home (W4, L2), dating back to a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in mid-March.
- Two of Aleksandr Mitrovic’s three goals for Fulham this season have been scored via headers.
Prediction
Having entered this matchweek sat top of the table for the first time since September 2020, Arsenal can come into this match full of confidence after a perfect performance at Bournemouth, where they didn’t really put a single foot wrong with superb attacking movement and passing.
Fulham meanwhile were brilliant in their aggressive defence-into-attack turnovers against Brentford last weekend, which proved crucial with clinical finishing to boot as they refused to let the Bees settle which is what they must replicate here if they want a second straight London derby win.
Marco Silva though made a bold gamble in making 10 changes which didn’t pay off at Crawley in midweek, yet the positive is that he has a fully fresh legged selection of regulars available for this tough encounter.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners though look incredibly difficult to beat but their defensive record at home has been sloppy with no clean sheets in six games, which offers Fulham hope if they play like they did last week and can prevent Arsenal from controlling the game from the very start.
I though just can’t see Arsenal losing this but Fulham should give them a cracking test if both teams turn up and pick up where they left off from last weekend.
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Fulham
Result: Arsenal 2-1 Fulham
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