ARSENAL will be aiming to get their Premier League title bid back up and running when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s men missed out on the chance to move back to the summit of the standings when suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Thursday night.
That first home loss of the season has left the Gunners occupying second spot in the table, two points adrift of league leaders Liverpool.
Arteta and co do not have much time to feel sorry for themselves as they face a quick turnaround with a trip across town to Fulham this weekend.
Following a pair of back-to-back 5-0 wins at the start of December, Marco Silva’s side have since lost their last three league games, most recently being brushed aside 3-0 by Bournemouth.
The Cottagers sit just six points above the relegation zone and they face a tall order this weekend when they come up against what will be a wounded Arsenal side.
Outright Betting
Fulham earned a draw at the Emirates back in August but the same outcome here is as big as 7/2 (Bet 365) while a home win is trading at 5/1 (UniBet).
Despite triumphing in just two of their last six top-flight road trips, Arsenal are odds-on 11/20 (Bet 365) favourites to claim top honours at Craven Cottage.
Betting Angles
While Arsenal will view this fixture as a good opportunity to get back on track, I’m going to instead dip into the Bet Builder and put up Fulham duo Joao Palhinha and Antonee Robinson to each commit a foul at 20/21 at Bet 365.
Having already clocked up a joint league-high eight cards in 16 appearances this season, Portuguese midfielder Palhinha continues to be one of the Premier League’s most prolific hatchet men.
The Fulham ball-winning midfielder never backs out of a challenge, and that is further evidenced by the fact that he is averaging 1.7 fouls per-game in the Premier League this season, getting on the wrong side of the referee at least once in 15 of his 16 outings to date, a trend that should continue against what is a technically gifted Arsenal team.
Moving into the Whites backline, I’ll also back Antonee Robinson to give away a minimum of one foul during this all-London affair.
The American left-back is averaging one foul per 90 in the top-flight this term, clocking up four yellow cards for good measure across his 18 appearances thus far.
Given that Robison is likely to be up against Arsenal foul magnet Bukayo Saka, I’m more than happy to back the Fulham defender to be reprimanded at least once here by referee Peter Bankes.
That train of thought is also going to see me split stakes on the aforementioned pair to each to commit two fouls at even-money (Bet 365) and 9/4 (Bet 365) respectively.
When you consider the pace and flair that Arsenal possess within their ranks, I’m also prepared to take it one step further chance a longshot by backing both players to each commit 2+ fouls at a nice looking 11/2 (Bet 365).
This English Premier League match between Fulham and Arsenal will be played on Dec 31, 2023 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Fulham vs Arsenal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
