Draw Premier League: Arsenal 2 - 2 Fulham | Saturday 26th August | KO: 15:00 BST

Prediction

Arsenal 3-0 Fulham

 

[Batman]

Gabriel "homeless beard" Jesus is back...



...Fulham ain't gonna know what hit 'em!

Better a homeless beard than a goatee in 2023.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Better a homeless beard than a goatee in 2023.

Once people started calling goatees “circle beards” it was over

 

[Mitch]

Ramsdale
White — Saliba — Gabi (the sexy one) — Zinny
Rice
Ødegaard — Havertz
Saka — Eddie — Martinelli​

This is the team I would go with.

 

[AmeriGooner]

Ream suspended for Fulham as well. I think he’s a really important player for them.

 

[Farzad]

Trossard should start at Striker drop Havertz to midfield and move Eddie go bench. If you are serious about him playing a new position how about play him there?

 

[Hunta]

Love the new sleeve tattoos @Tir Na Nog

 

[Legend14]

Zinchenko shouldn't start. Give him 30 minutes. Which means only sensible alternative is Tierney to start.

This means Partey on the bench as Arteta will not bench Havertz, and Gabriel comes back in with White on the right.

I would start Trossard for Martinelli and swap them in the second half but Arteta will play the same four up front.

Somebody's going to get thumped when our system clicks but don't think it wil be Fulham as Leno still has a point to prove and will play a blinder.

Still I expect at least a comfortable 2-0.

Why shouldn’t Zinchenko start? He’s ready and is one of our best creative players and a regular starter.

 

[berric]

Can't wait to see Saliba, big Dec, and Saka in red-and-white again.

 

[Legend14]

Great to have Jesus back, he played most of pre-season and knowing he’s been in full training there’s no reason he shouldn’t be on the bench.

Agree. Cleanup surgery has a pretty fast recovery. Hopefully he feels much better and has more confidence in his knee.

 

[OnlyOne]

Agree. Cleanup surgery has a pretty fast recovery. Hopefully he feels much better and has more confidence in his knee.

Yeah, I think he tailed off last season when he came back which is understandable and it's good to know he was still potentially feeling something. I hope he's back to what we saw when he first joined.

 

[Abhishek Arora]

I know this is nver going to happen
Ramsdale
Partey saliba white Gabriel
Partey SmithRowe/vieira
Ødegaard
Saka Havertz Trossard

I know partey and rice is a very strong midfield but the club is not playing a difficult opponent .This combination might lack creativity so playing a creative Midfielder with Ødegaard will help.Gabriel can cover the left back position

 

[Farzad]

I know this is nver going to happen
Ramsdale
Partey saliba white Gabriel
Partey SmithRowe/vieira
Ødegaard
Saka Havertz Trossard

I know partey and rice is a very strong midfield but the club is not playing a difficult opponent .This combination might lack creativity so playing a creative Midfielder with Ødegaard will help.Gabriel can cover the left back position

God forbid he gives ESR a chance to kick a ball in a competitive match. ESR as a baby before injury managed double digit goals in league something Havertz never has while featuring for 3 years.

 

[LookingForEric]

With Tomi out it probably means Zinny comes in. And then there’s no place for Partey at RB or at DM because Havertz is not getting dropped. It does mean big Gabby is back in. I don’t love it but I think we’ll get this:

Ramsdale

White Saliba Gabriel

Rice Zinchenko

Saka Ødegaard Havertz Martinelli

Bumketiah​

Should be a win in any case.

The agenda against Eddie is real.

If he was a new signing, having scored and won the penalty for the match winning goal in our opening two games?!

He’s been great, even Jesus misses a similar amount of chances. Don’t get me wrong Jesus is the superior player. But the Eddie slander needs to STOP.

For a second choice striker he really does his job very well.

 

[Farzad]

The agenda against Eddie is real.

If he was a new signing, having scored and won the penalty for the match winning goal in our opening two games?!

He’s been great, even Jesus misses a similar amount of chances. Don’t get me wrong Jesus is the superior player. But the Eddie slander needs to STOP.

For a second choice striker he really does his job very well.

Trossard has better production and pedigree at least Mik plays Eddie

 

[LookingForEric]

Trossard has better production and pedigree at least Mik plays Eddie

Ahhh but can’t have any complaints as of right now as Eddie has been key in our two opening wins

 

[Farzad]

Ahhh but can’t have any complaints as of right now as Eddie has been key in our two opening wins

He has played fine he just isn’t the better player

 

[LookingForEric]

He has played fine he just isn’t the better player

That’s fair. But he deserves to start until he doesn’t in my opinion anyway.

 

[ksarp]

Why shouldn’t Zinchenko start? He’s ready and is one of our best creative players and a regular starter.

and defensively liable...

 

[ksarp]

I know this is nver going to happen
Ramsdale
Partey saliba white Gabriel
Partey SmithRowe/vieira
Ødegaard
Saka Havertz Trossard

I know partey and rice is a very strong midfield but the club is not playing a difficult opponent .This combination might lack creativity so playing a creative Midfielder with Ødegaard will help.Gabriel can cover the left back position

You're really going to tweak your system because of a lack of "respect" for your EPL opponent?

 

[Legend14]

and defensively liable...

Are we going for a defensive approach against Fulham?

It seems that Arteta has decided to aggressively attack the low block and to use possession as our overall defensive strategy. Unless he is not 100%, Zinchenko fits as a focal point for all of this.