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Arsenal vs Fulham: 01/01/2019 – match preview and predicted starting XIs

Date: 01/01/2019

K/O: 15:00

Venue: The Emirates Stadium

Referee: Graham Scott

Arsenal will be hoping to get their hunt for the top four back on track after a disastrous defeat to Liverpool at Anfield – they host a Fulham side who will still be on the high of their crucial, last-minute win over Huddersfield, a result which has lifted them off the bottom of the table for the first time in eight weeks of play.

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After what was a sensational unbeaten run by Arsenal, and rightful plaudits for the impact that Unai Emery has had on this team, concern is growing after the last five games in all competitions have yielded just one win – results also included a disappointing home cup defeat to Spurs, a surprising away defeat to Southampton and, as already mentioned, a totally embarrassing defeat at Anfield to Liverpool; a defeat which only serves to bring reality back to the Emirates.

Questions were asked of this team midway through their excellent unbeaten run – could they possibly mount a title challenge? That question would be laughable now, replaced more fittingly with the thought of whether this team can properly challenge for a top four place? They now sit 5th, five points behind Chelsea, and even more worryingly, with 6th place Manchester United breathing down their necks after an attacking revolution by Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

A similar unbeaten run would not go amiss for the Gunners, to try and recapture the optimism that, for the first time in years, was slowly creeping back into the fans at large. In their next five league fixtures, Arsenal face three beatable opponents (Fulham, West Ham and Cardiff) but two of their fellow top of the table rivals, Chelsea and, intimidatingly, Manchester City.

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If Arsenal are to be taken seriously as not just a contender for trophies and Champions League qualification but just as a competent team, they need to begin taking the points from the best sides in the league.

Wenger, even in his darkest final few years, never had much of a problem dispatching of the worse league teams, especially at home, and Emery has already shown that he can pretty comprehensively dispatch of the weaker teams – both share that same weakness against the big teams, even though Emery managed a draw with Liverpool at home and a win against Spurs. It would be too simplistic to say that the 5-1 defeat has put Arsenal back to step one, but it definitely highlights that progress may be slower than previously perceived.

Fulham may not be expecting much from a trip to the Emirates, (especially when considering their quite chastening 5-1 home defeat to Arsenal earlier in the season), but perhaps the win over Huddersfield in their last game has given the leeway to drop points on the road to a side like this.

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They were worryingly abhorrent against Huddersfield in the first half but the second, which was full of aggression, grit and ambition, gives hope for the future, especially considering it is now two clean sheets in three games for the previously hopeless, league-worst defence. Two clean sheets in three games but only one win: the other two games being draws felt at the time like a missed opportunity, and still do, but the Huddersfield result has absolutely softened the blow.

Could they possibly keep a clean-sheet at the Emirates? It seems incredibly unlikely – for all of their horrendous defending, Arsenal scored a very good goal at Anfield and should have had a penalty in the second half for a foul on Alexander Lacazette, meaning they could have realistically scored two away at Liverpool, who boast the best defence in the league.

Ranieri will be hoping to keep it tight, perhaps choosing his speedier strikers to cause problems on the break, but with a striker like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the form that he is, joint top-scorer in the league with thirteen goals, keeping it tight and compact may not be enough. In the reverse fixture Fulham were brave; terrible, but brave, and that bravery may have to be reigned in if they are to get a point out of this game. Ranieri was not bought in to play good football, he was bought in to save them from relegation, and getting anything away at the Emirates would be a huge statement to do just that. 

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Team News

Arsenal remain in the grip of an injury crisis – defence has been an issue for them for a while now, starkly highlighted by the need to put Granit Xhaka into the left-back and centre-back positions for a couple of matches, such was the desperation to plug the leaks. Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal, the full-back options, won’t be available for this game and neither will Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Algerian play-maker who just starting to show some good form. All eyes will be on the situation surrounding Mesut Özil, who controversially missed the Liverpool game with a knee injury.

Speculation has been rife about Özil’s potential disagreements with Unai Emery, who has decided to take a no-nonsense approach to the German’s attitude, despite his obvious talent. Özil has history with random ‘injuries’ coinciding with games that he doesn’t want to play; during Arsenal’s Premier League campaign last season, Özil seemed to miss every league game but make every European game – a headache that Unai Emery can clearly do without. It will be a surprise if the German World Cup winner is included in the game against Fulham.

Fulham too have attitude problems of their own to deal with. A great amount of attention will be on the status of Aboubakar Kamara, after his shambolic behaviour relating to a penalty in the Huddersfield game led Ranieri to say he could have ‘killed him’ after the match. Kamara often cuts a frustrated figure – strong and quick he is potentially a unique asset for Ranieri but his overall behaviour and inconsistency mean that he is danger of being viewed as a liability by the manager.

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A more positive note for Fulham in terms of team selection is that, with this game taking place in the New Year, the yellow card’s tally for all players will be wiped; a relief for key players such as Aleksander Mitrovic and Jean Michaël Seri, who were both one booking away from suspension.

Predicted Starting XIs 

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Leno; Kolasinic, Mustafi, Sokratis, Lichtsteiner; Xhaka, Torreria; Aubamayang, Ramsey, Iwobi; Lacazette.

Fulham (5-2-1-2): Rico; Bryan, Odoi, Mawson, Ream, Christie; Chambers, Seri; Cairney; Sessegnon, Mitrovic.

Score Prediction: Arsenal 3 Fulham 1 

Despite Fulham being unbeaten in three games, and Arsenal without a win in two, it seems unlikely that this will be anything but a reasonably simple win for the Gunners. This confidence stems through the firepower that Arsenal have at their disposal, their speed in attack should be too much for this Fulham defence, despite recent improvement. It will not completely ward off criticism of the team for the Anfield debacle, nor will a defeat here seriously quell optimism in the Fulham camp that they can still survive. Unless Fulham can show us skills that have been lacking all season though, it should be a carefree start to 2019 for Unai Emery and his Arsenal team.

Jack Hall

An MA Film Studies graduate who now writes about Fulham FC for 90MAAT and any movies that take his fancy in his spare time. Recently saw his football club, Swansea City, get relegated and people were right, the Championship is much more fun.

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