Fulham vs Arsenal Preview: Team News, Likely Line-Ups & Predicted Score

Arsenal make the short trip across the capital to take on London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday lunchtime.

The Gunners will be looking to get their first points on the board after suffering a surprise 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. Arsene Wenger took the brunt of the fans frustrations for the loss due his the clubs lack of spending so far this summer, but it’s fair to say we were pretty unlucky with some of the decisions that went against us.

Anyway, we put the defeat behind us with an impressive 3-0 win away at Fenerbache in midweek, and the victory puts us on the verge of qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League for the 16th consecutive season.

Unfortunately we head to the Cottage with no new faces but Wenger has promised a busy final few days in the transfer window, so let’s hope we can get through this game and strengthen before we play Tottenham next Sunday.

Fulham are going to be a difficult side to break down with Martin Jol’s men starting off the season with a dogged 1-0 win away at Sunderland, and they are always strong in front of their own supporters, so we’re going to have to be on top of our game to collect the three points this weekend.

Team News

We will be without defender Laurent Koscielny who is suspended after being harshly sent off last weekend. The Frenchman may have missed the game anyway after being forced off against Fenerbache with a nasty cut above his right eye.

Right-back Bacary Sagna will move in to play alongside Per Mertesacker in his absence. Sagna was impressive in this role last weekend and was MOTM away at Sunderland when he played there last season, so hopefully he’ll be able to keep Fulham at bay tomorrow.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been ruled out for up to 3 months with a knee injury while Mikel Arteta is also out with a thigh problem, leaving us short of options in midfield.

They join Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby on the sidelines. Ryo Miyaichi is back training but it unlikely to be involved yet as he’s lacking match fitness.

Fulham are likely to be without goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and left-back Kieran Richardson after they both picked up injuries last weekend. Stockdale and Briggs are in line to replace the injured duo.

Alex Kacaniklic and Fernando Amorebieta are back in contention as are new signings Scott Parker and Darren Bent, but Jol is unlikely to make too many chances from the side that beat Sunderland.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Always a difficult game to navigate and we’re down to the bare-bones, but our starting eleven is good enough to see us edge this one. Fulham 1-2 Arsenal.

What would be your preferred team for the game and what’s your score prediction? Share your views below.