Overview
Arsenal are facing the opportunity to create a 6-point gap in the Premier League standings when hosting Fulham at the Emirates.
Last week, Manchester City surpassed to take the top spot after a 2-1 victory over Arsenal, before continuing to defeat Burnley 1-0. However, the "Gunners" responded in time with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, while Man City was busy playing in the FA Cup and would not return to the Premier League until Monday in a away game against Everton.
That opens up an opportunity for Arsenal to put pressure on Pep Guardiola's team, even though the opponent still has 2 matches to play.
However, the challenge for Mikel Arteta's team is not small. They only had a short break after a 1-1 draw away from Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, and at the same time had to avoid being distracted before the important second leg next week.
Home form is a great support for Arsenal. They have only conceded 11 goals after 17 matches in the Premier League this season and only one time without scoring. Notably, both matches conceding more than one goal ended in defeat.
Eberechi Eze is also impressing in London when scoring all 7 of his goals in the league in derby matches. This achievement is only behind names like Olivier Giroud (14) and Tony Adams (12) in terms of consecutive goals in the capital.
On the other side, Fulham is having difficulty when they have not scored in 4/6 recent matches, affecting their hopes of participating in European cups. However, when they are only 2 points behind Brighton, they still have great motivation in the final stage of the season.
Harry Wilson is the biggest hope of the away team, when leading in both goals (10) and assists (6). He is also in the rare group of players at the tournament with more than 100 passes into the penalty area (137) and more than 100 touches in the opponent's 16m50 area.
Regarding the force, Fulham hopes Alex Iwobi will be able to return in time after a thigh injury to face his old team, while the fitness of Kevin Mbabu and Kenny Tete is still uncertain.
On Arsenal's side, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber may reappear after missing the match against Atletico, but Mikel Merino has not yet recovered from a foot injury.
Head-to-head record
History is completely leaning towards Arsenal before welcoming Fulham. The "Gunners" are unbeaten in 32 home matches against Fulham in the Premier League (25 wins, 7 draws) - the longest record that a team has maintained against the same opponent in the history of the league.
Not only that, Fulham has never won away from home against the leading team in the Premier League after 13 attempts (3 draws, 10 losses). The last time they visited the leading team was a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in December 2024.
Head-to-head record also does not favor the away team, as Fulham has only won 1 in the last 15 encounters with Arsenal in the Premier League (4 draws, 10 losses). That rare victory was the 2-1 victory at home in December 2023 - a result that once made Mikel Arteta's team miss the opportunity to close the year in the number one position.
Score prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Fulham
The match between Arsenal and Fulham takes place at 11:30 PM on May 2nd (Vietnam time).
