Premier League: Every Week Brings Another Test of Arsenal’s Title Credentials

Fulham vs Arsenal

Two of the Premier League’s brightest young managers come face to face at Craven Cottage on Sunday when Marco Silva’s Fulham welcome Mikel Arteta’s league leading Arsenal.

The Gunners are five points clear at the top of the table and, so far, have managed to hold Manchester City at bay. With every passing round of fixtures a long awaited title inches closer to the Emirates, but it’s going to be nail-biting, just like the drama which unfolded last week.   

Arsenal picked up three points from their last league outing in a dramatic 3-2 win over Bournemouth, while Fulham lost by the same margin to Brentford. But that was a rare defeat for the Cottagers who have genuine top seven aspirations and Silva will have his team ready to push the Gunners all the way. 

Talking Points

Solomon on fire for Fulham   

The Cottagers are sitting pretty in seventh place, and that might be enough to get them into Europe if they can hang on, with 12 games left to play. Brighton and Brentford have games in hand and Chelsea aren’t too far behind but Fulham are playing without fear and aiming to win every game. Aleksandar Mitrovic is top scoring with 11 goals but the man who has provided the best Premier League 2023 highlights for the Cottagers in recent weeks is Israel star Manor Solomon who has bagged four goals from the last four games.

He signed from Shakhtar Donetsk last summer and the 23 year old can play on the wing or as an attacking midfielder behind Mitrovic, and he has taken some of the weight off the Serb’s shoulders. Arsenal and Manchester City were reported to be keen on the star but Fulham swooped to take him on loan and they have a real talent on their hands.      

The Cottagers, along with Brentford, have astounded neutrals with their attacking play and tactical awareness. But they will be missing a key player in midfield enforcer Palhinha, who picked up his tenth yellow card of the campaign in a recent 1-1 draw with Wolves and is sitting out the second game of his two match suspension.

Arteta’s balancing act

The Gunners are fighting on two fronts as the campaign nears its run-in. They have their eyes on a long awaited Premier League title but are also in contention in the Europa League, with a Round of 16 first leg tie away to Sporting Lisbon on Thursday night. Those Thursday/Sunday weeks that Europa football brings often causes teams problems but Arsenal have coped superbly as Arteta has trusted his full squad.

Many of his first eleven will be rested in Lisbon, though it’s possible that long term injury Gabriel Jesus may be travelling with the squad and a return to fitness of the Brazil star would be a timely boost to the Gunners. 

Arsenal’s late, late winner against Bournemouth was a big moment in the title race and it was an unlikely hero in Reiss Nelson who hit the last gasp winner. The Gunners goals have been shared out with stand out stars Bukayo Saka, making nine assists and scoring ten goals while inspirational skipper Martin Odegaard has nine goals and seven assists.  

Gabriel Martinelli is Arsenal’s top scorer, matching Mitrovic with 11 goals, and he is another young player who is getting better, week by week.   

These are exciting times for Arsenal and the very latest Premier League 2023 betting odds put the Gunners marginally in front at odds of 1.90 to win the title, while Manchester City are at 2.00. Should Arsenal slip up at Craven Cottage then the two contenders will swap places, particularly if the Sky Blues win their game away to Crystal Palace on Saturday. 

But these young Guns won’t go down anywhere without a fight.     

History

Arsenal have won 22 of their 31 encounters with Fulham this century while the Cottagers have managed just three victories and there have been six draws. The Gunners won 2-1 when the two teams met at the Emirates earlier in the campaign.

But recent form is identical with both teams winning four, drawing one and losing one of the last six games.   

Betting Tip

Even without Palhinha, Fulham will be a threat to Arsenal’s march to the title; though the hosts are at SBOTOP odds of 4.55 to win, with the visitors at 1.56 and the draw is at 3.78.

But the Gunners are in Europa League action on Thursday while Fulham have had a week to prepare, and none of the big six have beaten the Cottagers by more than a single goal this term.

I’m not saying Arsenal’s brilliant players won’t win; I’m saying it will be another nail-biter.

 

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