This weekend gives Arsenal the privilege they did not receive last weekend of playing before their respective title rivals. Excluding Manchester City, Arsenal’s match with Fulham will see them play before, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham giving them the chance to put the same pressure their rivals applied to them last weekend.
With Fulham flirting dangerously near the relegation zone, Arsene Wenger has highlighted the importance of beating the teams in the lower half of the division.
"That [beating the bottom-half sides] gives you consistency," Wenger said. "After that you want to make some special results against the direct contenders as well.
Arsenal have never lost to Fulham at home in any competition (W22, D5) and will be looking to continue that record and anything close to the reverse fixture that resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Arsenal will be welcomed by Arsenal fans all over.
Two of Fulham’s strikers will be well known to Arsenal fans. Arsene Wenger seems to have ruled out a move for Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov and it will be interesting if ex Tottenham striker Darren Bent scores with 7 goals in 11 appearances against Arsenal.
Team News
Arsenal go into the weekend’s home fixture with Fulham with no fresh injury concerns as Arsene Wenger confirmed Tomas Rosicky and Nacho Monreal should recover from injuries picked up from Monday’s 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
On the pair Wenger said "Monreal & Rosicky have tests today, we think both will be alright. Rosicky will wear a mask."
With Monreal picking up the knock in midweek Kieran Gibbs return to the squad is timely and can be expected to come into the side.
Lukas Podolski can be expected to get a first team opportunity after seeing no game time in midweek against Aston Villa.
This game against Fulham seems to be too early to see the return of Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey as Wenger claimed the pair would be more likely to been seen at the game at Southampton.
Wenger: "Ramsey and Arteta will be out for the next two games. Both should be ready for Southampton."
Arsenal’s good results of late have seen the injury of Ramsey go pretty much unnoticed considering the Welshman’s amazing form in the first half of the season.
The return of these two key figures alongside the return of Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain sees a strong squad forming for the second half of the season. The addition of a forward may just see the title race go down to the wire.
Title Challenge
Arsene Wenger reiterated his belief that Arsenal can sustain a title challenge with Manchester City even though the financial power between the two clubs in incomparable.
City are many people’s favourites for the title but Wenger believes Arsenal have what it takes to compete on the pitch.
“In terms of their resources no [we can’t compete] because they have unlimited resources, but with our resources available, we are ready to fight,” he said.
“I believe that you can convince people in two ways - by the quality and consistency of the performances. Let people make Man City or Chelsea the favourites, we can accept that.”
“The reality is that on Saturday afternoon at 3pm, that is when you can perform and when we have an opportunity to convince people that we are serious about what we want to achieve.”
With there just being 8 points separating the top 6 teams in the league Wenger believes this title race is leading up to be the most exciting in years.
“For me, it has always been tough. So that is nothing new,” he said. “It is maybe a bit tighter and you have more teams who fight for the title.”
The addition of Mesut Ozil has seen a confidence around the club that many critics thought would not last and it seems that another big signing this transfer window could have the same desired effect in this title chase.
But for this weekend the trusted squad who have got Arsenal to the top of the table will be expected to keep them there.
Expected line-up
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Wilshere, Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski, Giroud
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