Premier League leaders Arsenal will look to retain their place at the top of the table when they welcome newcomers Fulham to the Emirates this Saturday.
Venue: Emirates Stadium (London)
Key Statistics
Arsenal are the first top-flight side since Everton (1938/39) to win their first three matches of a campaign after losing the first three of the previous season.
The Gunners have kept two clean sheets this campaign after failing to register a single shutout in the final ten PL games of last season (W5, L5).
They have won five consecutive PL games against newly-promoted PL sides by an aggregate scoreline of 12-3.
Fulham have failed to score in three of their previous five matches (W1, D2, L2).
They have scored only four times across their previous seven league meetings with London rivals Arsenal (D1, L6).
Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrović’s three goals this season has already matched his goal tally from the entirety of his last Premier League campaign, but he has never been on the winning side against Arsenal (D1, L5).
Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko has an 82% PL match win rate – which is the highest percentage for any player with 50+ appearances in the competition.
Head to head
In 30 Premier League meetings between both sides, Arsenal have 21 wins while Fulham have just three wins.
Latest performances in all competition
Arsenal: W-W-W-W-L
Fulham: L-W-D-D-D
Arsenal
Arsenal’s remarkable start to the season can continue for another weekend when they play Lonon rivals Fulham this Saturday.
The Gunners have won their first three games of the new league season to take them top of the league table. Their 3-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend ensured that they have started their Premier League campaign with three consecutive victories for the first time since 2004/05, a season where they strung five opening wins together – beating opponents here Fulham along the way (3-0).
The result means that the Gunners are now the first top-flight side since Everton (1938/39) to win their first three matches of a campaign after losing the first three of the previous season.
Indeed, times have changed at the Emirates Stadium, with fans who by this time last year were calling for Mikel Arteta to be axed now singing the Spaniard’s praises and dreaming of an unlikely title win this season especially as the other title contenders are still struggling.
Their most notable improvement this season has been seen in their defence, which has kept two clean sheets this campaign after failing to register a single shutout in the final ten PL games of last season (W5, L5).
With nine goals scored and just two conceded, Arteta’s men seem to have found a perfect blend of attack and defence. They are the top scoring teams this season (alongside Manchester City) and only Brighton (one goal) has conceded fewer goals than they have.
And so, they will come into this tie as the clear favourites to get a win. Given their form and the fact that they are unbeaten in their last eight head-to-head games against Fulham (W6, D2), they will fancy their chances of getting another win in this game.
Possible Arsenal starting line-up
Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Granit Xhaka, Tomas Partey; Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus.
Injured: Reiss Nelson
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Fulham
Fulham’s respectable start to the season suffered a bump on the road on Tuesday as they were beaten by fourth-tier Crawley in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
The visitors were sent packing out of the EFL Cup by Crawley, losing 2-0 to the lowly fourth-tier opponent. They will now turn their attention to the Premier League, where they will hope to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
Marco Silva’s side opened their league campaign with two draws against Liverpool (2-2) and Wolves (1-1) before earning a credible 3-2 win against Brentford last weekend.
But having failed to score in three of their previous four games as well as not scoring in four of their last seven games against Arsenal, they will have to be more cohesive in attack to get a positive result in this game. They tend to start fast away from home though, scoring the first goal in four of their last six league matches (W2, D1, L3), which may be vital here as Arsenal’s last five Premier League home games have seen the leader at half-time claim all three points.
Possible Fulham starting line-up
Bernd Leno; Kenny Tete, Tosin Adarabioyo, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Harrison Reed, Joao Palhinha; Bobby Reid, Andrea Pereira, Jay Stansfield; Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Injured: Neeskens Kebano, Manor Solomon, Harry Wilson
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Arsenal 2-0 Fulham
