- Arsenal v Fulham: is this Arsenal team shattered or does Arteta know his stuff?
- Arsenal v Fulham: the referee – Jarred Gillett for the third time
By Tony Attwood
So as we have noted, Arsenal face the difficulty of playing their semi-final in the Champions League without the postponement of the preceding league match, while PSG and possibly Real Mad are allowed to juggle their league games to suit their Champions League commitments. At least Atletico Madrid have the decency to carry on regardless and are playing Valencia today at 3.15 pm. Maybe there could be something of an enquiry into how PSG endlessly get around the rules. But then I suppose if there were, they would get around the enquiry too.
So back in England, after 33 games played so far in the league, they have scored 56 and conceded 37. The current fourth-placed English team (Liverpool) has played 34, scored 57 and conceded 34. So not too much difference between the countries when it comes to fourth place.
Arsenal have only conceded 11 goals in 17 league games at home this season, while scoring 37, the highest league home goalscoring total so far this campaign. But in April, Arsenal only managed two home goals in three home games. That compares with six in three games the previous month and eight goals at home in February. So scoring at home has become a bit of a problem.
In their last six games, Fulham have scored three goals. Which suggests either Arsenal can roar ahead by getting a couple of early goals, thus shaking Fulham out of their defensive mode, or else this could be a dreadful goalless draw.
But overall, there is a rather lovely balance between Fulham and Arsenal on the goal-scoring front. Arsenal have scored 20 more goals in the league than Fulham, and Fulham have conceded 20 goals in the league more than Arsenal, A 40 goal greater goal difference for Arsenal.
Actually, there is another amusing goal difference comparison at the moment. Arsenal’s goal difference is +38, and Wolverhampton’s is -38. I know that doesn’t signify anything much, but I am not sure I have seen such a balance between top and bottom before.
Meanwhile, the Fulham manager has been mentioned in connection with the Chelsea job
Anyway, Arsenal have won 33 games against Fulham in the league (they have never ever played each other in the FA Cup or League Cup, save in their very first game against each other in 1904 where Arsenal won 3-2 in Plumstead.
Fulham has won nine games against Arsenal, although only one in the last 15 matches, which takes us back to 2012. But before we get too carried away, we should also note that in the last five games, it has been two wins to Arsenal (those were the two games in 2025), two draws and a defeat.
But we should note that Arsenal have been slipping down the table over the last six games. And in the table below, I have included West Ham as they have surprised me by rising upwards, along with Fulham of course and our three usual entries at the foot of the table, now including Chelsea, who seem to have thought that Tottenham were looking a bit lonely and have sunk down to keep them company.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 12 |
| 6 | West Ham | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 11 |
| 12 | Fulham | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 18 | Tottenham | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 5 |
| 19 | Chelsea | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 3 |
| 20 | Burnley | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 1 |
But I can also add that Arsenal have not lost any of their previous league home games against Fulham since 1904. It is apparently the longest run of its kind of one team against another in the history of the League, although I haven’t personally checked that.
For Arsenal, both Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka came through their run-outs in the last game and should be in the squad.
The Metro has a lineup of
Raya
White Saliba Gabriel Calafiori
Rice Zubimendi Eze
Saka Gyokores Trossard
Football London goes with
Raya;
Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Eze;
Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Sportsw Mole go with
Raya;
Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice;
Saka, Gyokeres, Eze
So there we are. A look at recent games suggests Arsenal should get through this easily, but then, when have predictions based on the past ever been right?
