Arsenal vs Fulham - Preview, prediction, team news and lineups

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·31 de março de 2025

Arsenal vs Fulham - Preview, prediction, team news and lineups

Fulham have never won away to Arsenal in 32 attempts, an unwanted English football record for any club against any other, albeit the Gunners are winless in three clashes with the Cottagers.

Arsenal vs Fulham Preview

Arsenal's title dreams are all but mathematically over, but they'll still want to end this season strongly. Last time out, the Gunners ended their three-match winless streak in the Premier League, defeating Chelsea 1-0 at home, thanks to Mikel Merino's unorthodox, backwards header from a corner. As a result, Mikel Arteta's team remain second, a whopping 12 points adrift run-away champions-elect Liverpool, still needing points to cement second place for a third successive season.

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Much focus is on the Gunners' upcoming Champions League clash with Real Madrid, welcoming the record, 15-times winners to North London for the first leg of their quarter-final tie next Tuesday. Before then, Arteta will certainly be eager to build some momentum, starting with a victory here.

Fulham meantime will make the short 8.8 mile journey across the capital following a major disappointment at the weekend. On Saturday, the Cottagers missed out on a first FA Cup semi-final since 2002, ultimately swatted aside 3-0 by Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage. So, while the Whites will not have a Wembley date to look forward to, they still have plenty to play for in the league.

Marco Silva's side have won four of their last six Premier League outings, most-recently defeating Tottenham 2-0 at home, thanks to late goals from Rodrigo Muniz and then Ryan Sessegnon. This means Fulham kick off eighth, thereby occupying the last European position, a mere three points below the final Champions League spot, having not featured in UEFA competition since December 2011. So, can the Cottagers enhance their top eight hopes with a first-ever away win at Arsenal?

Arsenal vs Fulham Head-to-Head Record

Matches Played: 64.

Arsenal Wins: 42. Draws: 13. Fulham Wins: 9.

Arsenal Team News

Riccardo Calafiori picked up a knee injury on international duty, the extent of which is unknown, joining Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines. The notable omission from this list is Bukayo Saka, who's been pictured back in training this week, so could Arsenal's star attacker be set to feature for the first time since 21 December, with Real Madrid on the horizon?

In Saka's absence, Ethan Nwaneri, who celebrated his 18th birthday during the international break, had become first-choice on the right-wing. However, the teenager was left on the bench against Chelsea, with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard deployed out-wide and Mikel Merino once again deployed up front, so will this experiment continue? Lastly, Benjamin White has seen just 100 minutes of action since knee surgery in November, so will he get more minutes into his legs?

Arsenal predicted lineup vs Fulham: (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Partey, Ødegaard; Martinelli, Trossard, Merino.

Arsenal Player to Watch vs Fulham

Mikel Merino headed home his sixth goal for Arsenal last time out, also bagging a stoppage time equaliser for Spain in Rotterdam, so will the makeshift centre-forward continue his scoring spree?

Fulham Team News

Unlike their hosts, who've had more than a fortnight off, Marco Silva's side were in action as recently as Saturday, so will this have an impact on his selection? As many as four former Arsenal players could start, namely Bernd Leno, Willian, Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe, albeit the latter was only a substitute against Palace, replacing Andreas Pereira on the hour mark.

Kenny Tete, Harry Wilson and Gunners' loanee Reiss Nelson are injured, while Raúl Jiménez could displace Rodrigo Muniz in attack, having scored four times for Mexico during the international break.

Fulham predicted lineup vs Arsenal: (4-3-3): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Lukić, Berge, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Willian; Jiménez.

Fulham Player to Watch vs Arsenal

Raúl Jiménez suffered his career-threatening fractured skull at Arsenal in November 2020, so it's great to see him back to his best, netting 12 times so far this season, while the Mexican has previously scored thrice against the Gunners, including during both of their last two encounters.

Arsenal vs Fulham Prediction

We are backing Arsenal to, just about, be too strong for Fulham, with the Gunners making home advantage count against an energy-sapped Cottagers side : Arsenal 2-1 Fulham.