Fulham welcome Arsenal to Craven Cottage in a huge London derby on Super Sunday.
Victory or a draw would see Fulham climb back into seventh position, whilst Arsenal will stay top with a win and extend their lead back to five points.
Team News
Cedric Soares is ineligible for Fulham due to the terms of his loan move from Arsenal on Deadline Day in January.
Tom Cairney (ankle) could return but Joao Palhinha (suspension), Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) and Layvin Kurzawa (knee) remain absent.
Arsenal could welcome Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard back into contention if they pass late fitness tests, having missed the Gunners’ 2-2 draw at Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League due to knocks.
Kieran Tierney, Martin Odegaard (both illness) are doubtful but Gabriel Jesus and Mohammed Elneny (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Fulham host Arsenal in a 2pm GMT kick-off on Sunday 12 March at Craven Cottage, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have claimed just two points from their last nine meetings against Arsenal (D2, L7).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in five of their last six visits to Fulham (W4, D1, L1).
- Ex Arsenal forwards, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have scored three goals across the Gunners’ last two visits to Craven Cottage.
- Manor Solomon has scored in each of Fulham’s last five matches in all competitions (W3, D1, L1).
- Gabriel Martinelli has scored in each of Arsenal’s last two domestic away matches (W2).
Prediction
Having battled to an eventual 3-2 defeat at local rivals, Brentford last week in which they were outclassed for large parts of the game, Fulham now need to reset for this London derby and look to play more on the front foot and cut out their recent defensive sloppiness which has crept into their game more.
Arsenal however have their own defensive issues to deal with at present because they have now conceded two sloppy goals in each of their last two games, yet Sporting Lisbon were much better than Bournemouth and snatched a draw in the first leg of their Europa League clash against the Gunners.
Defending therefore feels crucial but I do expect Mikel Arteta’s Gunners to have one eye on the return leg of their Europa League tie against Sporting, which might just give Fulham some hope of springing a surprise in a fixture where they’ve not really had the best of luck in recent seasons.
Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
Result: Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
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