Arsenal will be looking to extend their 100% record in the Premier League when they welcome London rivals Fulham to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
With two games in the books, the Gunners find themselves on six points alongside Manchester City and Brighton, who are the only other teams with a 100% record.
How to see out a match 🤌 pic.twitter.com/1WXAFzEr1v— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 22, 2023
How to see out a match 🤌 pic.twitter.com/1WXAFzEr1v
As for Fulham, they occupy 13th place in the table after recording one win and one loss to begin the 2023-24 campaign.
Arsenal kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest, with the hosts racking up 79% possession and 15 shots on the opening weekend.
The Gunners followed up that victory with a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace on Monday, courtesy of Martin Odegaard’s second-half penalty.
Despite playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s red card, Mikel Arteta’s men dug deep to leave Selhurst Park with all three points.
Thanks to a strong 2022-23 campaign, Arsenal have now lost just five of their previous 34 Premier League matches.
Fulham, meanwhile, started the season with a 1-0 victory at Everton, enjoying the lion’s share of possession at Goodison Park while scoring through Bobby Decordova-Reid.
However, the Cottagers were brought back down to earth last weekend, suffering a 3-0 home defeat to London rivals Brentford.
Despite registering 55% possession and 10 shots last time out, Marco Silva’s side failed to score a single goal while conceding three.
With star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic now at Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, Fulham will now need their other forwards to chip in with attacking returns.
Head-to-head: Fulham have failed to win any of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Arsenal, suffering eight defeats in the process.
It is also worth noting that Arsenal have scored over 2.5 goals in six of their last 10 matches against Fulham, keeping four clean sheets for good measure.
Team news: Takehiro Tomiyasu is suspended for Arsenal, while Gabriel Jesus, Jurrien Timber and Mohamed Elneny are injured.
Fulham have reported no injury problems ahead of Saturday’s clash, although Tim Ream is suspended after picking up two yellow cards last time out.
The Cottagers will be eager to bounce back from last weekend’s drubbing, but the Gunners shouldn’t struggle to claim all three points.
Forebet predicts that Arsenal will score over 2.5 goals on their way to dispatching Fulham, who look set to suffer back-to-back losses.