Our last two trips to Craven Cottage have been deeply frustrating affairs.
We’re a better side than Fulham, there’s no question about it, but they have found a way of late to outsmart us when it matters.
Be it smart defending, wily transitional play, ruthless finishing or all of the above, the Gunners simply haven’t been able to raise their level enough to take away all three points in recent times. Their failure to do so has been a big contributor to three failed runs at the Premier League title.
Far from being over-awed in the big games, Arsenal have tended to fall down in exactly the sort of circumstances that have seen Fulham prosper – West Ham and Newcastle too.
So far this season, we have found ways to get past both of the aforementioned sides. Now it’s time to banish the demons of Craven Cottage too.
But that’s easier said than done. The first game back after an international break is often a scrappy, bitty affair as players readjust to club routines and come off the back of long trips home. While the same is true for both sides, it means our momentum – such as it is – counts for far less. Suffice it to say, I’d rather be at home after a long break than away.
We can’t look to such excuses if we are serious about winning the league this season, though. This has to be the campaign in which we finally overcome the stumbling blocks of the past. Silly concessions and missed opportunities can’t be allowed to cost us again.
Fortunately, we seem to be a side in good form. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino all netted during the international break to keep their respective runs of good form ticking over. And it’s goals we’ll need if we’re to take the three points this weekend.
In my match preview over on YouTube, I called a rest for Viktor Gyokeres and I think the manager will do it. The Swede played 180 minutes for his country and, combined with the minutes he’s done for Arsenal so far this campaign, I think it’s time for some rotation to preserve his legs. That’s not an indictment of his mini goal drought because I think he offers an enormous amount to the team but I think it’s simply good sense to utilise the squad depth we have. Apart from anything else, we want to get as many in-form players on the pitch as possible.
That’s what I see the manager doing and, for that reason, I think there are going to be goals in this for us. Fulham’s start to the season has been largely indifferent and I think it’s a good time to be playing them. They have enormous individual talents who, on their day, are a pain for any Premier League side but I think we’re too big and too strong for them this time around.
We showed against Newcastle that we’re wiser now, and we’re more ruthless by half. It’s time to apply the painful lessons learned at Fulham now too.
My prediction: 2-1 Arsenal.
How do you see it playing out?
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