Fulham vs Arsenal Preview

Arsenal will look to return to winning ways this Sunday when they make the short trip to Craven Cottage to face a struggling Fulham side.

The hosts have endured a very inconsistent first half of the season with results often off and on so far. The Cottagers recently posted back-to-back 5-0 wins before losing three consecutive league games without scoring a single goal ahead of this New Year’s Eve clash. The most recent in that sequence was a 3-0 humbling by Bournemouth, meaning they need to win here if they want any chance of going into 2024 without losing more ground on the Premier League top half.

But given their record on this day, posting a positive result is achievable. Marco Silva’s side have been the winners in five of their last eight year-ending league games (W5, D2, L1). Yet, the hosts may feel trepidation heading into this clash against London rivals Arsenal, given that they have lost five of their last seven league home London derbies without scoring (W1, D1, L5).

Such a record will be music to the ears of Mikel Arteta and his side who lost a London derby in midweek as they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham. That result saw the Gunners painfully miss the chance to end round 19 at the top of the table.

However, they can still move to the summit at the end of 2023 with a win here, albeit that would be a provisional lead as Liverpool face Newcastle United on New Year’s Day.

Moreover, they’ll fancy their chances of taking a temporary lead though, as Mikel Arteta’s side have incredibly scored three goals in each of their last four away H2Hs. Also, not since 1939 have Arsenal recorded a longer run of away H2Hs against one opponent with 3+ scored goals.

After drawing the reverse H2H in August, the visitors are at risk of failing to pick up a league win against Fulham in one season for the first time in over a decade.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

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