Premier League football returns this weekend as the 2020/21 campaign kicks off when Fulham entertain Arsenal at Craven Cottage.
The Gunners endured a roller-coaster 2019/20 season as they finished 8th in the Premier League table following their worst league campaign in 25 years. However, Mikel Arteta managed to win some silverware after beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
That victory has given Arsenal fans renewed hope that they’ll be competitive again this year and the north Londoners will be looking to make a winning start to the season with a win against the Cottagers on Saturday lunchtime.
However, Fulham will also be desperate to make a positive start on home soil following their dramatic promotion to the top flight. Scott Parker guided Fulham to the play-off finals after a superb end to last season and they secured promotion with victory over Brentford.
Betting odds
Fulham are among the favourites to be relegated this season so it’s no surprise to see them being priced at 5/1 to win their opening game this weekend. Arsenal are 4/7 favourites to collect the three points while the draw is available at odds of 10/3.
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It’s impossible to know how fit the players are after such a short pre-season and although Arsenal are the bookmakers favourites, this will be a tricky derby against a Fulham side who’ll be highly motivated to impress upon their return to the Premier League.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is always a threat so he is a solid bet to open the scoring at odds of 5/2. A narrow Arsenal win is probably the most likely outcome so a 2-1 away win at odds of 13/2 looks good value.
Arsenal will be without the injured Gabriel Martinelli, Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers while David Luis is also a major doubt with a neck injury.
Therefore, new signings Gabriel and William Saliba could make their debuts and Willian is also expected to make his bow following his free transfer move from Chelsea this summer.
As for Fulham, they have no major injury concerns but goalkeeper Alphonso Areola could make his debut after arriving from PSG.
Prediction
Arsenal will be buoyed by their Community Shield victory over Liverpool two weeks ago and they should have too much quality for Fulham this weekend. The hosts will put up a good fight but we expect the Gunners to edge it in the end.
Fulham 1-2 Arsenal
