Team news: Nketiah starts in attack at Fulham

We’re aiming to end 2023 on the highest note possible by beating Fulham at Craven Cottage, and return to the top of the Premier League ahead of the new year’s celebrations.

While we head into this encounter searching for our first win in three games, we can take some solace in the fact that we are unbeaten in our last 11 Premier League games against the west Londoners, stretching back to January 2012.

However, the Cottagers proved that they were a tough nut to crack back in August when they snatched a late 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture, and have won three of their last four on their own patch, netting 13 times in the process. That means there is plenty of work to do if the champagne corks will be popping with extra vigour come midnight.

Silva’s mixed bag

Just like most of their season so far, December has been full of ups and downs for Fulham. They have been in the bottom half of the table for most of the campaign, sliding as low as 16th midway through last month after a run of one win from seven.

But then came a superb stretch of games which saw them strike late to beat Wolves 3-2, before falling to a last-gasp defeat of their own at Liverpool. Then came two successive 5-0 wins as Nottingham Forest and West Ham United were thrashed in the space of five days at the Cottage.

However, their last three games have seen them beaten by Newcastle United, Burnley and Bournemouth by an aggregate score of 8-0 to undo that good work, although Marco Silva’s side did reach the semi-finals of the League Cup during that run courtesy of a penalty shootout success over Everton.

What the managers say

Arteta: “Winning [against Fulham], we can be first so we have to do what we can control. There’s no time to look at other teams. You see how difficult it is for other teams and it’s going to continue to be like that because the level of the league is incredible.

“Without a spark, you don’t generate what the team generates [against West Ham], it’s impossible. But it’s the final thing, the final touch, the final action that puts the ball in the net or not, and that’s what we need.” – read every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference

Silva: “Before the West Ham result it was just us and Tottenham to take points from Arsenal at home, which shows that we know how to match them and play against them and we know what to do.

“For sure we have to play at our best level because we can then compete with Arsenal.”

Team news

Kai Havertz is available again after sitting out of the West Ham game through suspension. As we have now reached the halfway point of our season, the threshold for yellow card suspensions has now risen to 10.

We are unlikely to see Thomas Parety, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Fabio Vieira as they attempt to recover from their various issues, while Jurrien Timber is still a long-term injury concern following his ACL tear in August.

Raul Jimenez is also free to play in this game having completed his three-game ban following his dismissal at Newcastle. Former Gunner Willian is struggling with a hamstring issue that has seen him miss the last three games, which his side lost all of.

Tim Ream is definitely out with a calf problem, while Adama Traore has missed the majority of the season after suffering setbacks with his recovery from a hamstring tear.

Talking tactics

Adrian Clarke: Marco Silva’s Fulham usually adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation that is designed to play fast, neat and tidy, passing football through the lines. In possession they are well coached and confident working in tight areas, making them one of the more press-resistant sides in the division.

Only seven Premier League teams make more short passes per 90 minutes than Fulham, who produce more than the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa.

The west Londoners’ main issue has been finding consistency inside both penalty boxes.

In attack they have lacked pace and penetration up front, registering the third fewest shots from inside the box so far in 2023/24. They did conjure up back-to-back 5-0 wins on home turf, but in general they have been light inside the final third. No team has failed to score more often (8 of 19) than the Cottagers.

Defensively their best work is done inside the middle or final third, where Fulham can press with great intensity when the mood takes them. Protecting a sometimes fragile back four higher up the pitch is their best form of defence.

Even so, they do give up a lot of chances. Burnley and Sheffield United are the only two sides to have faced more shots, and prior to MW20 they had conceded more goals (34) than all but that pair of clubs.

Former Arsenal stars Bernd Leno, Alex Iwobi and Willian are integral players within Silva’s side. The latter two create the bulk of their chances, while Leno consistently produces game changing saves.

Fulham’s star man is central midfielder Joao Palhinha. He has quality on the ball, and can score goals (as he showed at Emirates Stadium earlier on this season) but his main attributes are defensive.

Palhinha has won 43 tackles, the most of any top-flight midfielder, and he ranks second highest for duels won too. The Portugal international will be a combative presence inside the engine room at Craven Cottage.

Facts and stats

Fulham have won just three of their 33 Premier League encounters with us (D7 L23), with all three of those victories coming at Craven Cottage (November 2006, August 2008 & January 2012).

We have won our final league game in 12 of the last 16 calendar years (D2 L2), including each of the last three in a row. This is the first time we’ve played on December 31 in consecutive years.

Fulham have lost five of their last seven Premier League home games against fellow London opposition, failing to score across all five of those defeats.

We are unbeaten in our last nine London derbies played away from home in the Premier League (W7 D2). We last had a longer run without defeat in such matches between September 2001 and April 2005 (19).

Following back-to-back 5-0 wins earlier this month, Fulham have now lost their last three Premier League games by an aggregate score of 0-8. The Cottagers haven’t lost four consecutive league games while failing to score each time since September 1971.

Gabriel has scored in three of his four Premier League appearances against Fulham. Two of these have come at Craven Cottage – one on his Gunners debut in September 2020, and one in this exact fixture last season (both 3-0 wins).

Willian has been directly involved in 10 Premier League goals at Craven Cottage since the start of last season (eight goals, two assists) – the most of any Fulham player. However, we are the team he’s made the most appearances against in the Premier League without ever scoring (12).

Since the start of last season, Martin Odegaard has both scored (11) and been directly involved (17, six assists) in more away goals in the Premier League than any other Arsenal player.

Mikel Arteta has never lost to Fulham in the Premier League, winning three and drawing two of his five meetings with the Cottagers.

Match officials

Josh Smith takes charge of just his fourth Premier League game and his first involving us in any competition on Sunday. He has refereed Fulham twice before in the top-flight, including their 5-0 success over Forest just over three weeks ago and took charge of their League Cup success over Tottenham Hotspur in August.

That is one of five games the Cottagers have won on his watch out of the eight occasions he has refereed them. Smith has shown red cards in two of his three matches at this level this season.

Referee: Josh SmithAssistants: Eddie Smart, Nick GreenhalghFourth official: Tim RobinsonVAR: Paul TierneyAssistant VAR: Scott Ledger

Recent trips to Fulham

We head to Craven Cottage looking to claim our sixth-straight win at the venue, with our last encounter there coming back in March when goals from Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard saw us cruise to a 3-0 win, with Leandro Trossard grabbing a hat-trick of assists in the first 45 minutes – a Premier League record.

Our Brazilian defender was on the mark again in September 2020 when he netted on his debut to add to strikes from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang which saw us run out 3-0 victors on the opening day of the campaign.

We won by a larger margin the trip before then when a 5-1 success was recorded in October 2018, with the highlight coming when Aaron Ramsey netted a Goal of the Season contender after a fabulous free-flowing team move.

Relive more famous wins at the Cottage by looking back on these five classic encounters

Breakdown Live

Log onto Arsenal.com and the official app from an hour before kick-off on Sunday where Nicole Holliday and Adrian Clarke will be on hand to give you the best build-up any Gooner could want!

Clarkey will break down the West Ham defeat while Martin Odegaard joins Frimmy in Colney Carpool. We’ll also broadcast our latest edition of Guess the Gooner, and Adrian gives us his half-term report for 2023/24.

There will be a look at the former Gunners we’re reuniting with at Craven Cottage and we will provide everything you need to know about Fulham, before handing over for live commentary from Dan Roebuck and Jonathon Rogers.

You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live wherever you are in the world.

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