Premier League giants Arsenal make the visit to west London to face Fulham on Sunday afternoon. The north London side started off the season with successive top-flight defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea but they have since steadied the ship under new manager Unai Emery with eight straight victories across all competitions.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Lineup:
Petr Cech sustained a hamstring injury during the first half of the Premier League clash against Watford last weekend and it has since been confirmed that he could be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks. In his absence, Bernd Leno should start between the sticks after putting into a solid second half showing during his league debut versus the Hornets.
At the back, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal have remained Unai Emery’s preferred picks for the right and left-back positions respectively and the Spaniard is unlikely to make a change based on the improvement witnessed in their performances this term. Likewise, Shkodran Mustafi could once more be partnered by Sokratis Papastathopoulous after a one-game league gap where the former was rested after sustaining a dead leg.
Onto the midfield, Emery offered Lucas Torreira just his second Premier League start last weekend and we are fancying the Uruguayan to once more start alongside Granit Xhaka. Emery has generally tweaked between Mateo Guendouzi and Torreira for the second midfield slot but the latter should get the nod for the Fulham trip, given he offers more in terms of tackling and is a better distributor of the ball.
In the attack, Aaron Ramsey has assumed the number 10 position since the season started and the Welshman should be afforded with the same role from where he could make regular runs into the opposition box. Alongside him, we are anticipating Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to start on the right and left side of the attack respectively with the latter having recently been deemed fit after an illness which made him miss the midweek trip to Qarabag.
Upfront, Alexandre Lacazette remains an undisputed starter for the Gunners, having sparkled ever since become a regular feature under Emery. The Frenchman has acted as both a goalscorer and distributor this term and he has managed at least a goal or an assist in five of his previous six appearances for the Gunners across all competitions.
Image – Getty
