Photo from Freepik.
Photo from Freepik
Morning all.
It’s been three months since Bukayo Saka suffered a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace but now, after surgery and recovery, he’s back. He’s ready to start according to Mikel Arteta:
Bukayo is ready to go! All the careful things he’s already done, so now it’s about putting him on the grass in the right moments. He’s pushing because he really wants it. We have respected the timeframe, but we have done everything and we have had to hold him back even, so he’s ready to go.
I’d be surprised to see him start tonight’s match against Fulham, in fact I’d go as far as suggesting his return will be gentle, with the Real Madrid doubleheader in mind.
One person who won’t be involved at all tonight is Riccardo Calafiori as he’s out injured again but at least we have Jurrien Timber and of course, Myles Lewis-Skelly who is probably still in dreamland after playing and scoring for his country. Assuming Ben White will start at right-back of course.
Other than Calafiori, every other player returned from international duty unscathed thank goodness. Not only that, they’ve had a few days to recover, unlike Fulham who played on Saturday in the FA Cup.
At Craven Cottage back in December, Arsenal started well enough but couldn’t make the early pressure count and then in their first attack of the game around the ten-minute mark, they scored. A simple from back to front and Jimenez left Jakub Kiwior standing before beating David Raya. Once the home team had the lead, they seemed happy to surrender possession but as has been typical of Arsenal when playing against an organised defence, finding the back of the net didn’t come easy.
Eventually an equaliser came though. A corner from Declan Rice, William Saliba on hand to poke the ball past Leno. Bukayo Saka thought he’d scored the winner later in the half, but Gabriel Martinelli’s big toe was deemed offside in the buildup. Two big points dropped, the story of our season. Points dropped in fixtures we really should have won.
Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme:
Silva’s success has been built around a 4-2-3-1 shape that sees Fulham play a brand of neat and tidy possession football. This is their domination formation, but recently he has flirted with a back three, especially in away matches, but in their last league game when they comfortably beat Spurs, Silva went back to his tried and trusted back four.
Most weeks the Cottagers play in an attacking manner, looking to build attacks by passing through the thirds. They are a side that love to funnel the ball wide, before whipping dangerous crosses into the box. Fulham’s overlapping full-backs are a key part of their armoury in this department. Tonight, we may see a more pragmatic approach as in our previous meeting in December, Silva set his side up to sit very deep and play on the counter. They troubled us with long balls from back to front and always posed a threat when they broke at speed.
Fulham are superb down the flanks, producing far more open-play crosses than any other top-flight team, mainly thanks to left-back Antonee Robinson, Adama Traore and former Gunner Alex Iwobi. As a by-product, Silva’s side are a threat in the air. Raul Jimenez and Rodrigo Muniz pose danger in that regard, and we must also look out for late runs from former Arsenal favourite Emile Smith Rowe, who has scored twice from headers.
Outside of that core strength, Fulham are strong in their duels, excellent at moving the ball around, and creative inside the final third. They also keep teams at arm’s length, very well indeed – with an expected goals against tally of just 33.43, they rank third, behind ourselves and Liverpool. However, Fulham have also let several promising leads slip away, winning just nine of the 18 matches where they scored the opening goal.
We currently sit 2nd, with just four points between ourselves and Nottingham Forest in 3rd place. Five points behind them, sit Chelsea.
Fulham have a chance to secure European football this football so despite being knocked out of the FA Cup on Saturday, there is still much to play for for Silva’s players. A few who were once on the books of Arsenal. Smith-Rowe, Leno, Iwobi, Willian and Nelson.
With just 9 games left and 27 points up for grabs, it’s mathematically possible for West Ham to overtake us and they’re 16th in the table. Of course that’s not going to happen but it’s certainly possible for the likes of Man City, Newcastle and Brighton etc to push themselves into the top four and if they do, Mikel Arteta and his players have to make sure it’s not at Arsenal’s expense.
Tonights game will be tough I’m sure but I’d like to think we have enough in ourselves to beat Fulham in front of our own fans and with the players Mikel Arteta has at his disposal.
Catch up in the comments.