Arsenal just dropped points in the London Derby against Fulham in round 15 of the Premier League. This result means they have been officially surpassed by Chelsea in the rankings. The Gunners' current 3rd position is 2 points behind The Blues and 6 points behind The Kop, in the context that Liverpool has played 1 less match.
In the past two seasons, Arsenal almost only had to compete with Man City in the championship. This season, when Man City is gradually falling, Arsenal has to face two other very strong opponents, Chelsea and Liverpool. The draw with Fulham is very harmful because it can make the "Gunners" fall further behind the two teams above them when the Christmas tourmalet is approaching.
Entering the match against Fulham at Craven Cottage, Arsenal played quite slowly and showed no signs of wanting to score to take the lead in the first half. The reason is that the schedule is so dense that the players need to take care of their legs. They have played 1 match in the middle of the week, after that the match against Fulham will continue in the UEFA Champions League.
The intensity of about 3 matches per day forced The Gunners to distribute their strength. Even when the opponent broke through, Arsenal still had no intention of pressing early to find an equalizer in the first half. Coach Mikel Arteta and his team decided to focus on the second half and almost succeeded if Bukayo Saka's goal in the last minutes had not been called offside.
During the first half, Arsenal controlled the ball up to 67% but mostly just kept it at their feet and passed it back and forth to save energy. The proof is that they only had 1 shot on target. In the second half, when they pressed forward, the "Gunners" had 7 shots on target but it was not enough to defeat the old goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The draw with Fulham left Arsenal with a very poor record on away trips. In 24 games under Arteta, when going away and losing at half-time, Arsenal won only once (D5, L18). This statistic explains why the "Gunners" dropped 2 points despite being behind early and pressuring Fulham throughout the second half.
William Saliba's equaliser was the 23rd time Arsenal have scored from corners since the start of the 2023-24 season. Once again, they have had to rely on set pieces. This is not a negative, but it reflects the fact that the Gunners' attack has been too dull at times despite putting all possible options on the field.
This match showed that once Arsenal's opponents accept to play tough, Arteta's team can be easily caught off guard. Fulham with Axel Iwobi, Adama Traore and Calvin Bassey won almost all the duels in the match. Just physicality and close pressure tired Arsenal, that could be the formula used by away teams when facing the "Gunners" in the next round.
