English Premier
2024-12-08 - Fulham vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 8th December 2024 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Fulham
Marco Silva will be proud of the way his Fulham team have bounced back from the thumping, and surprising, 1-4 home defeat to Wolves and their 3-1 win over Brighton on Thursday will have boosted the confidence of his team. There is every chance this could be a season in which Fulham return to European Football, although the manager will not be openly speaking about that in December.
Instead the focus has to be on performing and developing in every game as 6th placed Fulham prepare to face one of the title contenders in the Premier League. The form at Craven Cottage has been solid enough with Fulham improving to 4-1-2 here on Thursday evening.
Fulham's home defeat to Wolves is the only one suffered in 6 Premier League games and they have now won 3 of their last 5 having seen off Brighton on Thursday. That makes it 3 wins in 5 Premier League games at Craven Cottage, although the exceptions have been losses and during that sequence they have interchanged wins and defeats.
Reiss Nelson would not have been able to play on Sunday as a loanee from Arsenal, but he picked up an injury that looks like keeping him out throughout this festive period. Sasa Lukic is back from a suspension, but Tom Cairney is in the midst of one of his own, while Joachim Andersen is a doubt too.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta is unconcerned about what people think about the way his Arsenal team win football matches as long as they keep winning football matches. It was an important victory for Arsenal on Wednesday against Manchester United after a difficult first half and especially as Liverpool had dropped two Premier League points just as The Gunners came out for the second half kick off.
The manager insisted he did not know what the score was at St James' Park, but he will know that 2nd placed Arsenal have moved to within 7 points of leaders Liverpool. That gap might be bigger at kick off with Liverpool playing twenty-four hours earlier, but all Arsenal can focus on is improving the 3-2-2 away record and not losing further ground.
Arsenal's 2-0 win over Manchester United made it 4 straight wins in all competitions since the international break and the team have scored at least twice in all of those victories. The Gunners have particularly impressed away from home having crushed Sporting 1-5 in Lisbon in the Champions League and then thumping West Ham United 2-5 at the London Stadium last weekend in the top flight.
Not much was given away about the fitness of Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori on Friday, but both will need to pass tests to determine availability having missed out during the week.
Head to Head
Arsenal and Fulham have not played each other in this calendar year with both meetings in the 2023/24 season taking place before January 1st.
It was Fulham who took four points from the two matches, including coming from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Craven Cottage on New Year's Eve.
Arsenal had won on 5 previous visits to Craven Cottage and had scored at least three goals in each of the last 4 before that defeat on December 31st 2023.
Prediction
After beating Manchester United 2-0, it was a little strange to hear some of the criticisms of the manner in which Arsenal had achieved that victory.
Both goals came from corner kicks, but you might have been forgiven for thinking that was some version of 'cheating' after some of the criticism. Being compared with Stoke City just seems all a little childish, especially as Arsenal had scored thirteen goals in 3 games leading into the fixture at the Emirates Stadium and plenty from open play.
Mikel Arteta has made it clear he finds comparison's to Stoke City under Tony Pulis a compliment rather than something to be embarrassed by and the feeling here is the same. Set pieces are a big part of modern football and Arsenal are about as good as anyone in creating big opportunities from them, which is up to opponents to stop.
The team have won 4 in a row and will make the relatively short trip to Fulham with confidence- back to back away wins over Sporting Lisbon and West Ham United have seen Arsenal score ten goals, while the players will be looking to make up for the last performance at Craven Cottage.
Nothing will come easy against a Fulham team that beat Brighton 3-1 here on Thursday, but Arsenal do have a bit more time to prepare and they do have a serious edge in quality.
Marco Silva's Fulham are punching above their weight and they have posed problems for the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur this season. However, they have only earned a point from those fixtures and there is a feeling that Fulham are a little vulnerable at the back without Joachim Andersen, which gives Arsenal the edge.
Fulham have played well at Craven Cottage, but in recent weeks have been well beaten by Aston Villa and Wolves here too.
Last season's win over Arsenal will give the players confidence, but Arsenal have plenty of momentum behind them since the November international break and the expectation is that they keep the pressure on Liverpool by winning at a tough away ground. The team are scoring goals and have looked pretty solid defensively and Fulham may not have the energy to stay with their visitors having invested plenty into the win on Thursday night.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Fulham 1-3 Arsenal
