Match Preview
Fulham vrs Arsenal
Premier League Match Day 27 at Craven Cottage
Sunday 12th March 2023 KO: 14:00
Referee:
David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Live on Sky Sports
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Fulham face London rivals Arsenal at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon lppking to return to winning ways after their defeat last time out.
Arsenal will be seeking a fifth Premier League win on the bounce to keep Manchester City at bay.
Marco Silva's side went down 3-2 to Brentford in Monday's West London derby, while the Gunners played out a high-scoring encounter of their own in Portugal, drawing 2-2 with Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.
Many wondered how the absence of tackling talisman Joao Palhinha would impact Fulham's chances of a positive result against Brentford, and the travelling Cottagers fans witnessed their side's seven-game unbeaten run come to an end in a five-goal spectacular.
Despite Manor Solomon's header and Carlos Vinicius's late consolation, the Bees' success was far more straightforward than the scoreline would suggest, as Ethan Pinnock, Ivan Toney and Mathias Jensen made the net ripple to close the gap on their fellow continental chasers.
Palhinha's replacement Sasa Lukic was also extremely lucky not to have seen red for a second bookable offence, and despite still sitting pretty in seventh place in the table, Fulham's European destiny is out of their own hands, with Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion all boasting games in hand.
Nevertheless, a six-game scoring streak is a welcome statistic before the visit of an Arsenal side whose rearguard has been far from impenetrable recently, and the Cottagers have suffered a mere three defeats in their 13 Premier League home contests this term.
However, 16 of Fulham's last 18 Premier League games versus the table-topping side have ended in defeat, but their two such victories both occurred in March - 2006 versus Chelsea and 2009 against Manchester United - hardly a reassuring record for the more superstitious Arsenal fans.
For the second time in the space of a few days, an inability to defend set-pieces nearly cost Arsenal dear, as Sporting held the Premier League leaders to a four-goal draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 battle at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Following William Saliba's opener, a defensive mix-up between Matt Turner and Jakub Kiwior allowed Goncalo Inacio to head home the equaliser, and a freak own goal from Hidemasa Morita would spare Arsenal's blushes after Paulinho had briefly put the Portuguese side ahead.
Lamenting his side's recent tendency to concede sloppy goals, Mikel Arteta would have been left less than impressed with Arsenal's rearguard efforts against Bournemouth too, but the pandemonium that followed Reiss Nelson's last-gasp winner soon paled those defensive concerns into insignificance.
Entering the weekend still five points clear of Manchester City at the summit, Arsenal's lead will be reduced if the champions can glean a positive result against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but they travel to Craven Cottage still boasting the label of the Premier League's best-performing away side this season.
Posting six wins from their last seven road games and conceding a joint-low nine goals on rival territory this season, Arsenal's penchant for comebacks came to the fore in a 2-1 home win against Fulham in August, and not since the 2011-12 campaign have the Cottagers got the better of their counterparts in red and white.
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Fulham are winless in nine Premier League meetings since 2012 (D2, L7).
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They've lost their last four home league meetings against the Gunners.
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Arsenal have lost only three of their 31 Premier League matches against Fulham but all of those defeats were at Craven Cottage (W22, D6).
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Fulham's defeat at Brentford on Monday ended a four-game unbeaten run.
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Only Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have earned more points than Fulham's 20 since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup.
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The Cottagers have lost just one of their past five home league games (W3, D1).
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Fulham have lost the three games in all competitions that Joao Palhinha has missed this season, conceding nine goals.
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Manor Solomon could become the first Fulham player to score in five consecutive Premier League matches. He has scored a goal in each of his last five Fulham appearances in all competitions.
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Aleksandar Mitrovic has gone eight appearances without a goal in all competitions and hasn't scored at Craven Cottage since 20 October.
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Arsenal are looking for a fifth consecutive league win.
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The Gunners have the best away record in the Premier League, winning 10 of their 13 matches.
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Their tally of 25 away goals is the highest in the top flight this season.
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Eight of Arsenal's 11 Premier League clean sheets this season have come in away fixtures.
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Mikel Arteta's side have earned a league-high five wins when conceding the first goal in games this season.
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Arsenal have scored three winning goals in the 90th minute or later in the Premier League this season, all of which have come in their last eight fixtures.