English Premier League preview - Fulham vs Arsenal
Mikel Arteta
Wednesday’s performance was exactly what the doctor ordered after Saturday’s humiliating defeat to Villa. I always did fancy us against Fenerbahce, I felt it was the perfect place for the players to express themselves and redeem the weekend defeat. Hopefully, the squad will be high in spirits and confidence going into the early kick off on Saturday at Fulham.
Fulham started their season off well with a 1-0 victory away at Sunderland. Martin Jol would’ve been pleased with his team’s performance defensively, especially with keeping a clean sheet, something they only achieved on just eight occasions last season, shipping a staggering 60 goals in total.
Fulham have added to their squad in a quiet manner this summer with no real stand out acquisitions, the most high profile probably being the loan signing of Darren Bent from Villa in recent days.
After Mark Schwarzer’s move to Chelsea, Fulham added Dutch international keeper Maarten Stekelenberg from Roma (£4.7m). Maarten, however, picked up an injury in the win at Sunderland and is expected to miss two weeks so therefore will be side-lined for the clash on Saturday.
Another recognisable name to everyone will be the addition of England midfielder Scott Parker from Tottenham (£2m). Fulham have also added Venezuelan defender Fernando Amorebieta (free) from Bilbao.
Amorebieta was heavily linked to Arsenal at the back of last season. Other transfers include permanent signing of Riether (£1.2m) and Ghanaian midfielder Derek Boateng (free).
Last season. Fulham relied on the goal-scoring threat of Berbatov to secure them wins, but this season with the addition of Darren Bent, they should have a formidable partnership up top.
Martin Jol’s teams tend to be decent on the eye. But last season, the Cottagers were dogged by chronic inconsistency. Jol will be hoping for a bit more consistency this season as Fulham aim to build on their 12th placed finish last term.
Last season, an epic 3-3 draw at the Emirates was undoubtedly one of the best games of the season for the neutral. Arsenal took an early 2-0 lead through Giroud and Podolski but poor pieces of defending let Fulham back into the game, with a brace from Berbatov and a Kacaniklic header which put Fulham 3-2 up, before Giroud’s equaliser 20 minutes before time salvaged Arsenal’s notorious reputation for throwing away wins.
Arsenal pushed for a winner and Arteta’s missed penalty in the 95th minute denied us all three points.
The game at Craven Cottage last season was a little less dramatic with a single Per Mertesacker goal enough to take the spoils as Arsenal continued their impressive end of season march to take fourth place.
Last 5 meetings
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 3-3 Fulham
Fulham 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 Fulham
Fulham 2-2 Arsenal
The last time Fulham managed to beat Arsenal was in 11/12 when two late goals from Zamora and Sidwell secured all 3 points for Fulham after Djourou got sent off.
In total Fulham and Arsenal have played 48 times, with Fulham winning just seven of those encounters. In the last 10, Arsenal have won 4, Fulham have won 2, with the 4 draws.
Luckily for Arsenal, the only real damage from Wednesday night’s game against Fenerbahce was that to Laurent Koscielny. However, since he is suspended from his sending off last weekend, he was unavailable anyway. Jack Wilshere reportedlyis also a doubt and could well be rested for this Saturday. If Flamini is signed in time (12pm deadline), then he would make the squad.
Possible starting XI – Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Sagna, Gibbs, Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud, Walcott
Sagna and Mertesacker did pretty well on Wednesday night after Koscielny went off injured and Fulham could arguably be a greater test.
Berbatov and Bent will be a handful, whilst Duff will most likely provide the test for Jenkinson down the right hand side. Expect Parker to make his debut, so Ramsey and whoever partners him in the middle will have to be tenacious and energetic to get the better of him.
Overall, the team should be good enough to beat Fulham,. They will be confident after their impressive midweek display. The key will be in containing Berbatov. If we can do that we will win comfortably.
Lewbob’s prediction – Fulham 1-2 Arsenal