That was the only time in the last 12 meetings that the Cottagers have got one over us, and encouragingly they’ve never won consecutive league games against us in their history. However they come into the weekend sitting sixth in the table, thanks to a distinctively Arsenal flavour to their line-up.
Despite meeting some familiar faces, we’ll be hoping to return to winning ways at Fulham’s Thameside home, and put ourselves in as strong a position as possible ahead of another big week of European and domestic action.
Silva’s side up to sixth
Fulham were one of just two sides to avoid defeat against us in the Premier League last season, and were bolstered by the summer arrivals of Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson. Spearheaded by the goals of Alex Iwobi this term, the Hale End-heavy Cottagers have been quietly impressive.
An opening day loss to Manchester United was followed by 11 points from their next five games to steer them into the top six, but after a winless October an extraordinary comeback saw Harry Wilson net twice late on to beat neighbours Brentford to put things back on a track.
After returning from the most recent international break, a shock 4-1 home defeat to Wolves was then followed by a 1-1 draw at Tottenham last weekend, before Brighton & Hove Albion were sent packing by Marco Silva’s men on Thursday night courtesy of a 3-1 defeat. That night saw Iwobi grab a brace, taking him to five for the campaign.
What the managers say
Arteta: “It’s going to be a big challenge which we experienced last year when we lost five points against them. I have been very complimentary about them, the coach and what they do, so it’s always a really tough place to go.
“We just want to get better, and whatever we do, I repeat myself, is not good enough. We can still improve a lot in that sense. But last year, we were the team in the history of this club that scored the most goals. We want more, we have more margins, we can do things better. With the defence, exactly the same thing. With the environment, the same thing.”
Every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-Fulham presser
