Fulham enjoyed a better opening day to the season than Arsenal as they claimed a 1-0 win at Sunderland thanks to Pajtim Kasami's second-half strike. New signings Scott Parker and Darren Bent could make their debuts on Saturday. Parker joined from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee in the week, while Bent, on a season's loan from Aston Villa, did not feature from the bench at Sunderland.
Fulham will be without goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg (shoulder) and Kieran Richardson (hamstring), who both were injured at the Stadium of Light, but Alexander Kacaniklic has a chance of returning from a hamstring problem. David Stockdale is likely to deputise in goal for Martin Jol's side after coming off the bench last week.
Fulham have enjoyed a good record against Arsenal in recent times, losing just one of their last five fixtures, but Arsenal did win the most recent meeting as Per Mertesacker scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Fulham in April when both sides ended the match with 10 men.
FULHAM SQUAD
Etheridge, Stockdale
Riether, Hughes, Senderos, Amorebieta,
Hangeland, Riise, Briggs,
Duff, Karagounis, Sidwell, Parker, Boateng,
Frei, Kacaniklic, Kasami, Dejagah, Taarabt,
Rodallega, Ruiz, Berbatov, Bent, Trotta, |
Giroud, Podolski, Sanogo,
Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla,
Walcott, Frimpong, Gnarby,
Sagna, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Monreal, Jenkinson,
Szczesny, Fabianski,
ARSENAL SQUAD
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Arsenal are confident they can bounce back from a shock home defeat by Aston Villa when they visit Fulham in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger's men suffered a poor start to their league campaign, with a 3-1 home defeat by Villa, Arsenal recovered on Wednesday, posting a 3-0 win at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off.
Theo Walcott starred for Arsenal, creating two of the goals, and feels his side can beat anyone at their best.
"If everyone works hard for each other we can get the results," Walcott said. "At the weekend that probably wasn't the case, and we knew how disappointing it was. You don't want to start a season like that.
"We've forgotten about that and we're concentrating on Fulham. And if we perform like that [Wednesday], with that intensity, we can beat anyone."
Defender Laurent Koscielny suffered a deep cut to the head in the match, but is suspended for the trip to Craven Cottage anyway, while Wenger is also without club captain Thomas Vermaelen who is recoverinh from a back injury.
Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee) is sidelined for up to three months, leaving Wenger short of midfield options with Abou Diaby (knee) and Mikel Arteta (thigh) not expected back soon. Left-back Nacho Monreal has recovered from a back problem though, and featured against Fenerbahce.
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