At the time of writing, it looks like the international break has been quite kind to us so now it’s time to regroup and get back to business. Arsenal finished the last round of fixtures top of the pile so now the challenge is to stay there. Arsenal’s four fixtures until the next international break are against two promoted teams and two teams that finished in the bottom half of the league last time round and as we all know, there’s no easy games in the Premier League, but that said, if Arsenal are serious about winning this league, 12 points from these four games seems like a must. Winning the next four games would guarantee Arsenal remain top however, based on the fixtures of our rivals I think we would likely extend our lead which would be a really strong position to be in and one Arsenal haven’t seen for some time.
What makes this came massive is I think this is probably the hardest of the four games so a win at Craven Cottage would us up really nicely heading into the following three games and really set the tone.
In terms of this game, our recent away record at Fulham is not great with a draw and a defeat in the last two games so this has been a recent bogey ground for us that we’ll have to overcome that if we want to take all three points. Fulham are also unbeaten at home this season and have been in good form in general but have lost the last two games against Aston Villa and Bournemouth respectively.
Areas of encouragement
Again Arsenal’s defence has been excellent this season and is always a source of great encouragement. Only three goals conceded all season all of which are against Champions League sides in Liverpool, City and Newcastle teams as well, so they are all teams where the defence is tested by some of the best players in the league. If we can keep another clean sheet here, that’s another big step towards a big three points, especially with our attack showing real signs of improvement and fluidity in the last few games.
Fulham are also missing a few attackers with Muniz ruled out and Jimenez doubtful and also defenders, Antonee Robinson and Kenny Tete, set to miss out as well, so they have a few injury problems that will be stretching their squad.
Areas of concern
With our record at The Cottage not the best, Fulham, and their fans, will be full of confidence so we will need to assert ourselves on the game nice and early to try and dampen hopes of another upset.
Arsenal will also be without club Captain Martin Odegaard for the next few weeks with a knee injury and he’ll be a big miss here, as his form has been exceptional since his last return from injury. Against Olympiacos his passing, coupled with Viktor Gyokeres’ running, was a real weapon in attack and cut the Greeks open time and time again, but Arsenal will have to find another way to get past Fulham.
Gyokeres’ goalscoring form is a probably minor concern right now. His overall performances have actually been quite good, especially against Newcastle and Olympiacos, but the Swede hasn’t found the back of the net in the past 6 games now and as a striker, that can only go on for so long before it starts affecting his form.
What I’d love to see
As mentioned above, Gyokeres’ is without a goal in 6 now so I’d love to see him break his duck here. I think that would do wonders for his confidence and hopefully let him settle a bit.
Would also love to see another clean sheet. The longer this defence continues to shut teams out and the clean sheets build and build, it will start to become psychological for both Arsenal and their opponents.
What I’d hate to see
As always, no more injuries please! We’ve got a few coming back now so please injury football Gods, no more injuries.
Other than the obvious, I’d also hate to see a really flat performance. Not every game has gone our way this season, but I’ve mostly been happy with all of the performances so we need to continue that.
Lineup and Team News
Always hard to call after an international break but most players seem to get some sort of rest so I think Arteta will go with our strongest team and that picks itself for the most part. The back five will remain unchanged, although Calafiori is the one player who I don’t think got any rest so if he’s rotated I wouldn’t be too surprised. Martin Zubimendi had Thursday off to give him a bit more rest so he’ll return to the starting XI elven here with Declan Rice alongside him. Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres will definitely start so that just leaves the attacking midfield position and the left wing as up for grabs. The boss has favoured Leandro Trossard a lot this season so I’d imagine that would continue, although again, Gabriel Martinelli is a strong option out there and has a decent record against Fulham.
I know the one fear from Arteta lineups this year is potentially seeing the midfield trio of Rice, Merino and Zubimendi but I don’t think we’ll see it here. Eberechi Eze has been in fine form of late and will surely take his place in the number 10 position for this one.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
Timber
Saliba
Gabriel
Calafiori
Zubimendi
Rice
Eze
Saka
Gyokeres
Trossard
Substitues:
Kepa
Hincapie
Mosquera
Lewis-Skelly
Norgaard
Nwaneri
Merino
Martinelli
Dowman
PREDICTION
It will be a tough game this one but I think if he get our noses in front, we should take all three here. 2-0 to The Arsenal.