)
Mikel Arteta’s men are out to maintain their perfect start to the Premier League campaign as they host London rivals Fulham
Arsenal go in search of our third straight win to start the Premier League campaign against Fulham - and looking at the history books, the omens are strong for us to maintain our 100 per cent record.
That’s because the Gunner’s never lost a home league game against the Cottagers in 30 meetings - the most one team has faced another at home without ever losing in English league history.
Preview
And if you’re more interested in recent times, then Fulham are winless in their last 10 games against Arsenal home and away, and have failed to prevent them from scoring since February 2009.
Arsenal also have very differing recent records when it comes to London derbies as they are unbeaten in their last 13 capital clashes including Monday’s win at Crystal Palace, while the Whites' 3-0 home loss to Brentford extended their winless run against London rivals to seven.
With all that being said, Fulham are on the brink of winning their opening two away games in a top-flight campaign for the first time at the 29th attempt, having defeated Everton 1-0 on the opening weekend which came before their surprising heavy defeat to the Bees.
Last season saw the newly-promoted side finish in 10th spot, their best season in 11 years, which could have been even more eye-catching as they occupied sixth position in February, before Marco Silva’s team fell away in the final few months.
Looking to improve on that, the Portuguese boss has added Wolves pair Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore to his ranks, as well as Ajax centre-back Calvin Bassey but last week saw club icon Aleksandar Mitrovic depart to Al Hilal for a reported £50 million, seemingly giving the club room to manoeuvre in the final week of the transfer window.
Team news
Takehiro Tomiyasu will be missing for this game after being sent off at Palace earlier this week, meaning Oleksandr Zinchenko could be in contention for a start after returning to the bench at Selhurst Park.
Gabriel Jesus has returned to training this week following his minor knee procedure and is an option to potentially start if needed, leaving Jurrien Timber and Mohamed Elneny as Arsenal’s only injured players.
Joao Palhinha could start after returning from a shoulder injury against Brentford, while Tim Ream is definitely missing following his dismissal against Brentford last weekend, with Silva revealing Bassey will take his place.
He is hoping that former Gunner Willian will shake off an Achilles issue to make his first appearance against his former club since leaving in the summer of 2021.
When and where to watch
The match will kick off at 5pm Kenyan time and will be live on SuperSport TV.
Predicted lined-ups
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Fulham: Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha; Traore, Pereira, Decordova-Reid; Jimenez
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)