Fulham vs. Arsenal Preview: limping down the stretch
Olivier Giroud of Arsenal holds off the challenge of Steve Sidwell during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Fulham, at Emirates Stadium on November 10, 2012 in London, England. (Getty Images)
Despite all the pleas by the team for fans to know they still have motivation to finish out the season strong, it didn’t show midweek. At Craven Cottage, a sort of fortress for Fulham throughout the years, they were outclassed 3-0 by a better, stronger and more ruthless Chelsea squad. The team didn’t play poorly, but they didn’t have the conviction needed to win a match of this caliber. The squad will be tested further by an in-form Arsenal squad that’s fighting for their Champions League lives towards the finish line.
It’s been a while since Fulham drew with Arsenal 3-3 at the Emirates earlier this season. That match was incredibly exciting, as Fulham haven’t come from behind to grab many points this season, but down 2-0 they came back to lead 3-2 before the final equalizer just moments after in the 69th minute by Olivier Giroud. The way the two clubs have played recently, I wouldn’t expect the same excitement. Arsenal are coming off a physical but goalless draw with Everton, and Fulham have had very little punch at all in recent matches. It remains to be seen whether Dimitar Berbatov not only can replicate his performance from the Emirates, but whether he will receive the same support as well.
State of Fulham:
“We need to be more aggressive tomorrow. We could have put more pressure on Chelsea. We have to quickly clean the slate concerning the Chelsea game, pick the things we did and focus on them. This is a must-win game now, we can’t think otherwise.” – Eyong Enoh
Good to hear a new player wants to get a result. While this is nowhere near a must-win game for Fulham, it’s nice to hear a sense of urgency after a dud against Chelsea. It remains to be seen whether Enoh will be selected to start his third straight match for Fulham, but hopefully that attitude rings true with more than just one player.
The squad is pretty similar to what we saw against Chelsea. Steve Sidwell will be returning after his 3-match ban, but many important figures will still be missing. Ashkan Dejagah, lost for the year with an ankle injury, is seeming a bigger and bigger miss each week. In their stead, Alex Kacaniklic, who scored against Arsenal in the reverse fixture has been called back up from his loan spell at Burnley and Martin Jol specifically stated he would be slotted right into the matchday squad. That doesn’t mean he’ll start, but he will probably feature in some aspect.
If you watch Martin Jol’s matchday preview, he makes a strong indication that Kacaniklic could start, saying he’s “desperate to play and so I have to decide who will play on the left and who will be on the right” which sounds like he will be in there in some aspect. He also said Sidwell will be in the squad, and says with a big smile “I will never give away my lineup but you know Steve did very well, so it’s 1-and-1.”
Because Sidwell will most likely play, that leaves a selection problem for Jol with either Enoh or Giorgos Karagounis for the second central midfield spot. Not available for selection in that spot will be Emmanuel Frimpong, who cannot play against his parent club. Sascha Riether is a doubt with an ankle injury, although Jol called him a “German soldier” so we’ll see if he can make the squad.
The Whites had a stretch for about 2 months where they picked up 11 points in 5 straight matches, but since then it’s been 2 losses and a draw, so results are becoming more and more hard to come by.
State of Arsenal:
The Gunners are playing admirably with the goal of finishing in a Champions League spot, and are in the thick of the battle raging at the top of the table. Arsenal are in a very tedious 4th place, and their immediate threat is the hated Spurs just 2 points back in 5th place. Since winning at Bayern despite still dropping out of the Champions League, Arsene Wenger’s squad has picked up 13 points to Tottenham’s 4. Arsenal are just 1 point back of Chelsea, and would do themselves a massive favor if they were able to leapfrog Chelsea into 3rd position. Therefore, they’ll be coming to play and play hard.
They’ll be without Lukasz Fabianski who is still recovering from a cracked rib. Fellow Pole Wojciech Szczesny will start in his place between the sticks. It will be interesting to see if Wenger selects one or both of Nacho Montreal or Lukas Podolski, both of whom have ridden the bench in the last few matches. Podolski’s situation is especially interesting, given that Olivier Giroud has performed quite well in the lone striker’s position. Giroud has played 2,229 Premier League minutes this season as opposed to Podolski’s 1,657 minutes, and the latter has been relegated to substitute duties in the 8 matches.
EA Sports Match Stats:
- Like they were against Chelsea before Wednesday’s game, Fulham are unbeaten in their last 4 matches against Arsenal.
- 10 of Olivier Giroud’s 11 goals this season in the Premier League have come at The Emirates.
- Brede Hangeland averages one interception every 15 minutes.
- There has been a red card in each of the last 2 Premier League matches at Craven Cottage between these teams (Johan Djourou and Zoltan Gera).
Prediction:
1-1