Football Preview | Fulham v Arsenal

Arsenal travel across London to Fulham looking to extend their lead at the top of the table.

Fulham need to improve their consistency as they look to start moving up the table and away from the relegation zone.

Author | Josh T

Stadium | Craven Cottage

Fulham v Brentford

Arteta’s side moved to the top of the table on the final weekend before the international break and now face the challenge of holding onto first place. Arsenal have won three of their last four matches, including two consecutive victories heading into the break.

In contrast, Fulham have suffered back-to-back league defeats and are in urgent need of a win to halt their slide down the table.

Last time out for these sides

Declan Rice opened his account for the season before Bukayo Saka added a second as Arsenal eased past West Ham in Mikel Arteta’s 300th match as manager. Arsenal controlled the contest, limiting their opponents to speculative efforts on the break. Their advantage was doubled in the second half when Jurrien Timber was felled by El Hadji Malick Diouf, Saka stepping up to send the resulting penalty into the corner.

Arsenal v West Ham

For Fulham, their last game before the international break was a 3-1 defeat away at Bournemouth. Marco Silva’s side took the lead through Ryan Sessegnon’s clever finish over Djordje Petrovic, but Bournemouth hit back as Antoine Semenyo equalised with a solo effort from the left. Substitute Justin Kluivert then fired in a stunning long-range strike to give the visitors the lead, before Semenyo sealed the win in stoppage time with his second goal of the night after a swift counter-attack.

Key stats ahead of this interesting London derby

Fulham have won their last two Premier League matches at Craven Cottage and are aiming for a third consecutive home victory for the first time since December 2023. The west London side are also hoping to remain unbeaten in their opening four home games of a league campaign for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Arsenal have lost only once in their last 18 London derbies in the Premier League, winning 13 and drawing four. That defeat came at home to West Ham in February last season. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the Gunners have been beaten only once in 18 away league fixtures against London rivals, a 2-1 defeat at Fulham in December 2023.

After facing 22 shots against Manchester United on the opening weekend, Arsenal have limited their opponents to fewer than 10 attempts in each of their six Premier League matches since. The last side to go on a longer run of such defensive control were Liverpool, who managed nine consecutive games between April and August 2022. It is also Arsenal’s longest sequence of this kind in the Premier League era, according to Opta’s records dating back to 2003-04.