Arsenal look for a third Premier League win in a row, and to make it eight matches unbeaten across all competitions, when they make the short trip to Fulham next weekend.
The Gunners sit top of the table after recent slip ups from Liverpool and will look to keep their one-point lead on the Reds. The north London side have, however, failed to win their last two trips to Craven Cottage.
Arsenal will face a Fulham side who have been somewhat hit or miss this term. The Cottagers sit 14th in the table and have lost their last two fixtures, against AFC Bournemouth and Aston Villa, by a scoreline of 3-1. The side’s last Premier League win came against Brentford on September 20, also by that score.
Arsenal denied by VAR last time at Craven Cottage
After a 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage last season, Arteta was left ‘gutted’ by the result and praised a ‘quality’ Fulham side, who held onto a point thanks to a late Bukayo Saka goal being disallowed by VAR.
Ever since 2023, when facing Fulham, Arsenal go up against a familiar face. Alex Iwobi is now a regular in the starting XI under Marco Silva and is, of course, a product of the Gunners’ academy.
The 29-year-old has started every Premier League match for Fulham this term and, when the side is playing well, he is usually at the heart of it. The winger scored and assisted in the 3-1 win over Brentford and also created the important equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in August.
Iwobi was hailed as ‘magical’ for his performance against Brentford by Fulhamish and given an 8/10 for his showing. The outlet wrote: “Another who had their best game this season, and surprisingly so with his recent form and the worries over a potential ankle injury coming into the game.
“He looked sharp and quick from the off, which ended up showing in his attacking contributions. His speed of reaction to net the equaliser was superb, but his pass to split the Brentford defence 90 seconds later as Fulham took the lead was magical. Those are the standards he can reach when he takes a leaders’ role in that attacking group.”
Mikel Arteta wary of ‘dangerous’ Fulham
Arteta knows Iwobi thanks to his years of Arsenal and is aware of the threat he could pose the Gunners on Saturday evening. Speaking about the player last year, Arteta said: “I always liked him a lot. I always thought that he had tremendous quality, a very special talent, a talent that has the capacity to play in different spaces and positions as well. I’m really happy to see him playing at that level.”
At the time, speaking more generally about Fulham and Marco Silva’s work, Arteta added: “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.”
Iwobi made 149 appearances for Arsenal during his time with the club before joining Everton on a £34 million move in 2019. The versatile midfielder enjoyed four years with the Toffees before then making a £22 million move back to the capital with Fulham.
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