Preview: Fulham v Arsenal | Pre-Match Report | News

Premier League action returns on Saturday as we travel across the capital for a London derby against Fulham (5.30pm), aiming to stay top of the pack after a strong start to the 2025/26 season.

We have a good recent record against the Cottagers, who have only triumphed once in the last 14 league meetings between the two teams, and their task of improving that record seems all the more difficult as we have only lost one of our last 18 away league derbies in London.

However, in both cases the anomaly was a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage in December 2023, while we were only able to come away with a point last season. With the Whites unbeaten in five games at home this season so far, this is a tough test that Mikel Arteta will look to overcome as we attempt to extend our seven-game unbeaten run and our lead at the top of the league.

The comfort of the chalet

Fulham go into this match 14th in the table, with eight points to their name. Seven of those have been won at home, with back-to-back wins over Leeds United and Brentford after the last international break kicking off their campaign, following a 1-1 draw against Manchester United in their home opener.

They are looking to avoid defeat in each of their opening four home matches of a league season for the first time since 2011/12, but on their travels the story has been different. A 97th-minute equalizer from Rodrigo Muniz earned an opening day point at Brighton, but since then they have acrimoniously lost a west London derby to Chelsea, before tasting defeats at Aston Villa and Bournemouth in their last two outings.

Worryingly for Marco Silva, they have scored three goals in these last two defeats, but they will be hoping a return to their iconic Thameside home will be just the tonic they need, where League Cup victories over Bristol City and Cambridge United have also been achieved this season.

What leaders say

Arteta: “Last year, immediately, when we totally control the game, in one moment we concede the goal, and then it’s a different game to play. But we learn from it. Obviously we want to make it different, especially the results we have had in recent years and do our best to achieve that.

“(Newcastle) is a good example, West Ham as well. In the last two seasons we lost to them at home, so it’s an opportunity tomorrow. We know it’s a really difficult place to get to, they’re a very well-coached team, and we’re going to have to be at our best tomorrow.” – every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference

Silva: “In the last four games (against Arsenal), you see a really competitive team against them. It’s a different time of the season for us, because we don’t have all our abilities, but we want to compete at our best level. We want to be present and show that we are capable of competing, even without five or six players who have been very important for us.

“If you have all your players available, you will be stronger. If you don’t have key players – not just one or two – you are not at the same level. But that will not be an excuse for us. With our fans, we definitely need them also at their highest level because in these kinds of moments we need to show unity and connection even more.”

Team News

Martin Odegaard’s stop-start season continued when he was forced off the field early against West Ham United with a knee injury and he is out for the foreseeable future, but Arteta will have Piero Hincapie back after he missed last month with a groin problem but returned to training.

Martin Zubimendi and Ben White should be able to feature after missing a few sessions this week, but Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus remain out with knee injuries of their own.

As for Fulham, Sasa Lukic suffered a groin injury in the Cottagers’ last encounter against Bournemouth and will be absent, as will Antonee Robinson, who is suffering from a knee injury which has limited his playing time in the United States, while Rodrigo Muniz is permanently out with a hamstring problem.

Silva’s striking options could be further depleted, with Raul Jimenez battling a hip problem that saw him miss Fulham’s last game and the Mexico game, while Kenny Tete (knee) and Samuel Chukwueze (calf) are also being monitored and are doubtful.

Talking about tactics

Adrien Clarke: It will be interesting to see if Silva continues with the surprise 3-4-2-1 formation he used last time out at Bournemouth. He’s usually more of a 4-2-3-1 man, so was this an isolated case, or is this a sign of a new direction? Having lost this game, my hunch is that he will revert to a back four, but all eyes will be on his team sheet.

Fulham’s home form has been solid. Unbeaten in three outings, they have faced just 28 shots at Craven Cottage – the only top team to have faced fewer at home is us! So we may have to be patient in our attempts to break them. Hopeful balls played into the box should be avoided as central defender Joachim Andersen dominates in his own area.

In this match last season, Silva abandoned his possession-based approach to play with just 34% of the ball. After securing a 1-1 draw via a counterattack, don’t be surprised if this tactical policy repeats itself, but the injury to their best off-ball midfielder, Lukic, means that central midfield is an area we should look to dominate.

Former Gunner Alex Iwobi is probably the biggest danger. He has a goal and two assists to his name at Craven Cottage this season, and is undoubtedly their main creator with nine key passes, four through balls and six successful crosses from open play. His battle with Jurrien Timber will be one to watch.

Facts and statistics

We have lost just one of our last 17 away games in the Premier League (W9 D7), winning four of our last six.

Fulham could lose three Premier League matches in a row for the first time since December 2023.

Since facing 22 shots against Manchester United on matchday one, we have held our opponents to fewer than 10 shots in our next six league matches. The last team to achieve this in more successive matches in the competition was Liverpool in 2022 (9).

No team has had more different scorers (excluding own goals) in the Premier League this season than us (9, tied with Brighton). Only twice before have 10 different players scored in our opening eight Premier League matches, in 2009/10 and 2018/19.

Alex Iwobi has created four chances via assists in the division this season, with Bruno Fernandes the only player to do more (5).

Only Iwobi (10) and Raul Jimenez (8) have been involved in more Premier League goals for Fulham in 2025 than Ryan Sessegnon (7 – 5 goals, 2 assists).

Bukayo Saka has scored three goals in his last four Premier League matches against Fulham.

Gabriel has scored three Premier League goals against Fulham, his most against any team, scoring in two of his three previous appearances at Craven Cottage in the competition.

Match officials

For the 56th time, Anthony Taylor will referee us, and we have won 31 and lost only eight. We are unbeaten in our last eight games under his management since May 2023, although we have drawn the last three, including a controversial penalty at Brighton in January and the dismissal of Mikel Merino at Anfield in May.

Conversely, Fulham have won just seven of the 29 games Taylor has been named in, losing each of the last five. This season, the Manchester whistler is picking up an average of three yellow cards per Premier League game, and although he hasn’t sent anyone off, he has awarded two penalties.

Arbitrator: Antoine Taylor
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Sam Barrott
VAR: Stuart Attwell
VAR Assistant: Craig Taylor

Previous cottage clashes

Having won five successive league trips to Fulham from 2012/13 to 2022/23, we have failed to win at Craven Cottage in the last two campaigns. Last season a William Saliba goal put us level after Jimenez struck, and Bukayo Saka thought he had scored it in stoppage time only for VAR to intervene.

On New Year’s Eve 2023, Saka gave us the lead early on, but the efforts of Jimenez and Bobby DeCordova-Reid turned the situation around and gave the hosts the spoils. However, the previous season we recorded a convincing 3-0 success when Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Odegaard all scored before half-time to secure victory on the banks of the Thames.

Live coverage

This season, Live From N5 is the perfect place to provide live commentary on all of our men’s first team matches in 2025/26.

Tune in just before kick-off, when Dan Roebuck and Jérémie Aliadière will once again be behind the mics to guide you through the action on the pitch.

You can also discover which broadcasters show the action livewherever you are in the world.