Premier League Preview: Arsenal vs Fulham

After emerging victorious over Aston Villa on Monday night, the Gunners host Meulensteen’s Fulham side on Saturday. Arsenal are unbeaten at the Emirates Stadium after they suffered against Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. Arsenal will be looking to build the lead over the top by winning the game, mounting the pressure on their London rivals as Chelsea take on Manchester United on Sunday night. Fulham, meanwhile would like to get a result out of this game as they struggle at the bottom of the Premier League table with just 19 points.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 10: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal celebrates his goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates Stadium on November 10, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty I.mages,)

Last Corresponding Fixture:

Arsenal 3-3 Fulham

Saturday, 10 November, 2012, Emirates Stadium

Goal Scorers: Lukas Podolski (23’), Olivier Giroud (11’, 69’), Dimitar Berbatov (29’, 67’ Pen), Alexander Kacaniklic (40’)

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The last time Fulham traveled to the Emirates Stadium, they nicked a point out of the game. Arsenal were dominating and had a 2 goal lead but Fulham showed resilience and came back into the game with a goal from Kacaniklic and a brace from Berbatov. Olivier Giroud scored to make the scoreline 3-3 but Mikel Arteta missed a penalty in 90th minute as Gunners were denied 3 points in what proved to be a 6 goals thriller.

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TEAM Performance:

	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
Arsenal at Home	10	7	2	1	18	6
Fulham away from Home	10	3	0	7	8	24

Arsenal will miss pace of Theo Walcott as the Englishman was ruled out for rest of the season few weeks ago. Return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain & Lukas Podolski will give them some boost as they need pace & power to support lone striker Olivier Giroud up top. Many strikers are linked with a move to north London in this January transfer window but the deals are far from done and till then Giroud has to lead the line by himself as Nicklas Bendtner will be back in few weeks time. We could see goals galore come Saturday if scintillating Arsenal turn up and destroy Rene Meulensteen’s depleted Fulham side.

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So far this season:

ARSENAL		Fulham
57	Average Possession (%)	46
85.3	Passing Accuracy (%)	81.5
52.7	Shooting Accuracy (%)	46.2
9	Clean Sheets	3

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TEAM News:

Arsenal: Left back Nacho Monreal is a big doubt for the game while Tomas Rosicky will play with a protective face mask following surgery on his broken nose. Theo Walcott is already out for the rest of the season while captain Thomas Vermaelen, Aaron Ramsey & Mikel Arteta are sidelined for the match. Nicklas Bendtner is closing in on a return. Frenchmen Abou Diaby & Yaya Sanogo are the long term absentees.

Fulham: Darren Bent is set to feature against Gunners after scoring against Norwich City in the FA Cup. There are doubts over Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg (ankle) & defender Fernando Amorebieta to play on Saturday’s clash while skipper Brede Hangeland could make his first Premier League start since October after returning from back surgery in FA Cup third-round replay win over the Canaries.

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PROBABLE Lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny – Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs – Flamini, Wilshere – Gnabry, Ozil, Cazorla – Giroud

Fulham: Stekelenburg – Riether, Hangeland, Senderos, Riise – Sidwell, Parker, Karagounis – Dempsey, Berbatov, Duff.

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OPTA Stats:

• This match will be Arsenal’s 200th Premier League London derby (W103 D55 L41 F338 A190) and their 100th on home soil (W58 D25 L16 F184 A91).
• They have averaged more points per game (1.83) from London derbies than any other team, while only Palace (0.90) have averaged fewer per match than Fulham (0.93).
• Arsenal have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight games in all competitions at the Emirates Stadium, conceding just one goal in the other match during this run.
• Fulham have allowed 133 shots on target this season, more than any other club in the Premier League.
• Arsenal can match their best run of the season with a win in this game (five wins in a row).
• This would be the 19th time Arsenal have won five-plus Premier League games in a row.
• Arsenal have played 39 through balls this season (a joint-high with Liverpool), Fulham have played only eight.
• Fulham have never won away at Arsenal in any competition, losing 22 of the 27 visits to the Gunners. They have, however, drawn the last two.
• Darren Bent has scored eight goals in his last 10 appearances in all competitions against Arsenal, including five in the last four.
• Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski have both scored three goals in three Premier League appearances against Fulham.
• There have been four red cards in the last six Premier League meetings between these London rivals, but all of them have come at Craven Cottage.

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MATCH Officials:

• Referee: Lee Probert.
• Assistants: S Beck, A Holmes.
• Fourth Official: D Bond.