Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Premier League clash between Fulham and Arsenal, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Returning from the international break to one of their lesser-favoured haunts, Arsenal hit the road to meet Fulham at Craven Cottage in Saturday evening’s Premier League contest.
The Gunners dethroned Liverpool at the summit of the standings before the two-week hiatus, while their hosts are bidding to snap a two-game losing run – both in the top flight and across all tournaments.
Match preview
Banishing no fewer than three curses over their past three games, Arsenal exorcised their St James’ Park demons, avenged three straight home defeats to Olympiacos and avoided another West Ham United horror show before international football intervened.
The 2-0 triumph over the latter – who had come up trumps at the Emirates in 2023-24 and 2024-25 – lifted Arsenal to first place in the Premier League standings, where they would remain throughout the duration of the break thanks to Chelsea’s beating of an ailing Liverpool.
Only trailing Manchester City on the goals scored front and boasting the best defensive record in the division – as was perhaps to be expected – Mikel Arteta‘s men have been flexing their remarkable squad depth in the early weeks of the season, where they have already had a league-high nine different scorers.
Also factoring in an EFL Cup third-round success at Port Vale, the Gunners’ winning streak across all competitions stands at four matches heading into Saturday’s London derby – games in which Arteta’s men have typically excelled.
Indeed, Arsenal have only been beaten in one of their last 18 Premier League battles against fellow teams from the capital, and they boast an identical record purely away from home in such London derbies, although there is no reward for guessing who that one defeat on the travels came against.
Marco Silva‘s Fulham spoiled Arsenal’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2023 with a 2-1 win on home soil, before also holding the Gunners to a tense 1-1 draw a year later, when Bukayo Saka had a last-gasp winner disallowed for offside.
Ten months down the line, the Cottagers have reason for optimism once again, as Silva’s men are still unbeaten at home in the 2025-26 Premier League season and have taken a praiseworthy seven points from their three top-flight games at Craven Cottage this season.
None of Brentford, Leeds United or Manchester United have managed to knock down the Fulham walls, but the Cottagers continue to trip up on the road, suffering back-to-back 3-1 losses to Aston Villa and Fulham prior to the two-week pause.
The latter result saw Silva’s men draw first blood in the 70th minute only to fall victim to a captivating Cherries comeback, and the hosts lie in an unspectacular 14th place in the table as a result, four points away from both the drop zone and the top six.
Furthermore, while Arsenal have not cut the mustard on their last two trips to Craven Cottage, Fulham have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 20 Premier League games against the Gunners, who last failed to score in this fixture in August 2008.
Fulham Premier League form:
Fulham form (all competitions):
Arsenal Premier League form:
Arsenal form (all competitions):
Team News
On the back of becoming the first player in Premier League history to be substituted in the first half of three consecutive starts, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is now believed to be facing around a month on the sidelines with the knee issue he suffered against West Ham.
The Norwegian joins Kai Havertz (knee), Gabriel Jesus (knee) and Noni Madueke (knee) in the Emirates infirmary, while Ben White was also unable to train on Thursday, raising fears about another problem for the injury-plagued defender.
However, Piero Hincapie took part in the session on October 16 following a groin injury and might be in line for a belated Premier League debut, although he would almost certainly be deployed from the bench.
Arteta and Silva could empathise over midfield injury blows in gameweek seven, as the Cottagers lost Sasa Lukic to a groin issue just 14 minutes against Bournemouth, and ex-Serbia boss Dragan Stojkovic has claimed that he will be sidelined for between four and six weeks.
To make matters worse, Samuel Chukwueze sustained a reported injury in Nigeria’s recent 4-0 win over Benin, while there are no guarantees that Raul Jimenez will return from his hip problem in time for the derby either.
Kenny Tete (knee) and Rodrigo Muniz (thigh) are guaranteed to miss out for the Cottagers, but Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi and Bernd Leno are all fit and ready to face their former club.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Diop, Bassey, Andersen; Castagne, Berge, Cairney, Sessegnon; Wilson, Iwobi; King
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard
We say: Fulham 0-2 Arsenal
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Given Fulham’s alarming selection concerns up front, we would not put it past Silva to start with three centre-backs once again in a bid to frustrate the Gunners, whose efforts to break down a low block are not pretty to watch.
However, the hosts will surely have a much harder time against the visitors’ dogged defence, and even if they have to rely on their trusty set-pieces again, Arsenal should lift their Craven Cottage curse to remain atop the table.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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