Premier League Fulham vs Arsenal: Arsenal Aiming for Cloud Nine

Fulham vs Arsenal

The Unai Emery revolution is gathering pace in North London, and now the Gunners are taking their eight-match winning run up to the West End.

It’s Premier league Fulham vs Arsenal at the Cottage on Sunday, a game to whet the appetite and one which is sure to provide goals. After a slow start, Arsenal have gradually clicked through the gears and moved up to fifth in the Premier League while making a good start in the Carabao Cup and Europa League.

Fulham have won more new fans in the top flight than they have points so far, but they are a good side at home and will take the game to the Gunners.

This is one to watch, SBOBET football fans, so make sure you catch the Fulham vs Arsenal highlights to cap off the weekend.

Talking Points

A 2-0 win over Watford last week pushed the Gunners up to within four points of the top spot, and level with fourth-placed Spurs. There’s a new feel about the Emirates after the end of Arsene Wenger’s reign. The cerebral Frenchman changed the face of English football, making the beautiful game even more so, but his time had come.

Arsenal had become a passing machine over the last few seasons, with an ever-blunting cutting edge and a flimsy backbone. But Emery is slowly but surely making the Gunners a hard team to beat, or even take a point from. Watford made a superb start to this campaign but were pretty routinely dispatched.

Mesut Ozil seems happier than he has for some time; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are beginning to look the attacking threat Arsenal fans have been yearning for since the departure of Robin Van Persie over six years ago.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos to deliver the same performance in Premier League Fulham vs Arsenal tie — Arsenal’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos shakes hand with manager Unai Emery

Defender Sokratis is finding his feet by scoring his first for Arsenal, since his summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund, in a comfortable Europa League win away to Qarabag last night. Emery took the chance to give some squad players a game, and they coped with ease.

The Gunners head to Craven Cottage full of belief and on the hunt for nine.

Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic has insisted he won’t compromise his team’s open style of play in pursuit of Premier League survival, and his players briefly gave Spurs a scare in their game at Wembley. But the Gunners’ North London rivals saw the Cottagers off and, while the new boys and their fans like attractive football, the league table shows they need more than that. Sitting one place above the drop zone isn’t a comfortable place to be when all around you keep saying you’ve made a bright start.

If they want to become a Premier League fixture, Fulham need to win as many home games as they can. But it is difficult to make your home a fortress when everybody likes playing there!

In attack, Jokanovic has a vibrant force in the form of Aleksandar Mitrovic who has scored five of Fulham’s eight goals. Loan signing Andre Schurrle adds a touch of real quality; the Borussia Dortmund man already has two goals and is the best source of ammunition for Mitrovic. And Fulham have a talented young midfielder who can pick a pass in Tom Cairney.

But only the bottom two teams have conceded as many goals as Fulham (16) in the first seven games, so the host’s rearguard must put up a heroic show to keep out Aubameyang and Lacazette.

History

The hosts come into this game having earned just two points from the last four league games, and that is troubling form. They go to fellow newcomers Cardiff City next week, and defeat on Sunday will pile the pressure on that one.

But expect Jokanovic to stick to his guns and good luck to him.

History isn’t on the Cottagers’ side, though: Arsenal have won 18 of the 26 meetings with Fulham, while the underdogs won just three and there have been five draws. And the Gunners have won the last three clashes, completing a double over Fulham in their 2014 relegation season.

Betting Tip

	Fulham vs Arsenal	Over 3.25 goals @ 2.03
	October 7, 19:00 (GMT+8)

This is a really tough game for Fulham, against an Arsenal side brimming with confidence, but they’ll give it a go. The hosts are at odds of 5.00 to win, with the draw at 3.80 and Arsenal at 1.64. So Fulham vs Arsenal betting tips will lean towards an away win, but one thing is pretty certain: the goalies will be busy.

Fulham will try to get the ball to Mitrovic early, but Arsenal’s pace up front could exploit the hosts’ naivety. So I expect a few goals. Of the 14 league games involving Fulham and Arsenal, nine have yielded over 2.5 goals so far, and a correct scoreline of 1-3 looks to be good value at 10.50.