Fulham have suffered a major injury blow ahead of their Premier League clash against Arsenal. Marco Silva's side continued their impressive form at Craven Cottage on Thursday evening as they beat Brighton 3-1, firmly putting a surprise defeat to Wolves in their last game on home soil behind them.
Having also picked up a point against the Gunners' north London rivals Tottenham last weekend, Fulham occupy sixth position in the Premier League table and could even go to within two points of third-placed Arsenal with a victory.
A 2-0 win over Manchester United for Mikel Arteta's side on Wednesday made it four consecutive wins, 15 goals scored, and just three conceded. [Their latest triumph was also secured without both Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori, though Arteta will be hoping the defensive duo return for Sunday's clash.](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/gabriel-riccardo-calafiori-boost-martinelli-30522764)
As for the Cottagers, Tom Cairney is unavailable due to suspension, while Harrison Reed and Joachim Andersen are expected to remain out because of injury. However, Sasa Lukic will likely return to the starting XI after serving a one-match ban due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Over the last few years, several former Arsenal players have ended up at Fulham, with Bernd Leno and Alex Iwobi both now on the club's books. Emile Smith Rowe also became their record signing this past summer upon joining from the Gunners in a £34million deal.
[Reiss Nelson is also currently on loan at Fulham](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/fulham-star-miss-arsenal-clash-30523898), and though he would be ineligible to face his parent club, he would have likely been ruled out regardless. With 20 minutes remaining, Silva was preparing two substitutions with Nelson, one of the players to be replaced; however, the change was delayed, and he subsequently picked up a hamstring injury.
When asked for an update, Silva said: "We are waiting to stop the game for Reiss Nelson to come off, but the difference of 20 seconds, he gets a hamstring injury and will be out longer than we would like." As Nelson cannot feature, Silva must now decide on his replacement, with one of those being a possible nightmare for Arteta.
While he could opt for Andreas Pereira or Lukic to come into midfield and push Iwobi out wide, Adama Traore would be a straight replacement. Though his blistering pace and undeniable strength can cause teams issues, his end product is regularly questioned, but Arteta knows firsthand what he can do.
Back in October 2019, just two months before Arteta became Arsenal boss, he watched Traore score twice against Manchester City to win the game for Wolves. While that was five years ago, it was a clear reminder of the quality he possesses and could unleash on Arsenal and Arteta this Sunday.
Likely to be deployed on the right, the return of Calafiori will help matters significantly with Oleksandr Zinchenko, who, while solid against Manchester United, has shown defensive frailties when up against tricky wingers.