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Arsenal vs Fulham: Preview, key man to return and predictions

By on March 20, 2025

Arsenal - Martinelli and saka

Arsenal take on Fulham at the Emirates Stadium after the international break in a must-win game if we’re to retain any slim hopes of catching Liverpool.

We went into the break off the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Chelsea. Mikel Merino’s header was enough to clinch all three points in North London in what was otherwise a poor game that lacked quality in the final third.

Our problems in attack are well documented and our free-flowing football has been virtually non-existent since we lost four of our key attackers to injury. Losing Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz to serious injuries all at once would be too much for any squad.

The likes of Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Merino have done their best to fill-in, but our lack of firepower has cost us in recent weeks as we’ve dropped valuable points against the likes of Man Utd, Nottingham Forest and West Ham.

Just one win in our last four Premier League games has left us sitting 12 points adrift of run-away leaders Liverpool. With just nine games remaining, our title hopes hang by a thread and we simply cannot afford another slip-up against Fulham. Fans with Arsenal vs Fulham tickets will be expecting a win over our London rivals but we know from last season not to take anything for granted.

The Cottagers are also in excellent form and come into the game sitting eighth in the table – just three points off fifth-placed Manchester City and four off fourth-placed Chelsea so they are right in the mix for European qualification this season.

Fulham beat Tottenham last time out and have also claimed wins over the likes of Forest, Newcastle United and Chelsea in recent weeks. We also drew 1-1 in the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage in December, so the players should know just how difficult this fixture will be.

Team news

April 1st is the day when fans with Arsenal tickets could finally see Bukayo Saka make his long-awaited comeback from injury. Our starboy has been on the sidelines since tearing his hamstring against Crystal Palace on December 21st, 2024. After over 3 months on the sidelines, Saka is now on the verge of returning to action.

The 23-year-old has stepped up his recovery during the international break and widespread reports suggest he is due to resume full training next week. If all goes to plan and he doesn’t suffer any setbacks, Saka is expected to be in the squad against Fulham – which would be a huge boost.

However, Kai Havertz remains on the sidelines and is unlikely to play again this season after tearing his hamstring while away on the warm weather training camp in Dubai in early February. Gabriel Jesus is unlikely to be playing again until the end of 2025 after undergoing surgery on his ACL injury, so Arsenal are still without a recognised striker.

Takehiro Tomiyasu will be another absentee for Arsenal as he’s been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a troublesome knee injury that’s hampered him all campaign.

As for Fulham, Reiss Nelson won’t be available as he’s recovering from hamstring surgery but he wouldn’t have been able to play against his parent club even if fit due to the terms of his loan.

Harry Wilson is also expected to miss out due to an ankle injury while Kenny Tete is working back to fitness from a knee problem.

Possible line-up

Saka’s return would be a massive boost but he’s highly unlikely to start if he is back in the squad for this game. After such a long time out, the youngster will be eased back into action and is likely to get some minutes off the bench against Fulham and Everton with the hope of being ready to start against Real Madrid on April 8th.

Therefore, Gabriel Martinelli could keep his place on the right wing – although Ethan Nwaneri is an option if Arteta wants to freshen things up in attack. Leandro Trossard had a very poor game against Chelsea last time out and I’d personally like to see him benched for Nwaneri, but he’ll probably still keep his place.

With Havertz and Jesus still out, Mikel Merino will lead the line up front once again. The Spaniard has adapted to his new role well and score a crucial winner against Chelsea – which was his fourth goal in seven games – so he deserved to start up top against Fulham.

One area that is up for grabs is left-back. Myles Lewis-Skelly appears to be first choice but Arteta does opt for Riccardo Calafiori is certain fixtures. I don’t see this being one of them though so I expect Lewis-Skelly to keep his place in the Arsenal defence.

David Raya will obviously keep goal once again while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will continue their partnership in the middle of the back four. Ben White is back but still lacks some match fitness so Jurrien Timber might get the nod at right-back.

Thomas Partey should keep his place in the holding role with Declan Rice in the box-to-box role once again. Martin Odegaard has had a tough campaign so let’s hope the skipper finds some form during the last few weeks of the season.

Possible Arsenal XI: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Trossard, Merino

Prediction

Arsenal know the chances of catching Liverpool are extremely slim but all we can do is win our games and hope they suffer an almighty collapse. A win against Fulham would cut the gap down to nine points and at least give the Reds something to think about.

Fulham have European aspirations so this will be a tough game, but we should be the fresher of the two teams as the Cottagers will have played an FA Cup quarter final against Crystal Palace just three days before their trip to the Emirates while we’ll have enjoyed a weekend off to prepare.

Hopefully we see Arsenal return from the international break rejuvenated and ready to make a real push during the closing weeks. A win over Fulham is a must and I don’t see us slipping up as I’m predicting a narrow Arsenal victory. Arsenal 2-1 Fulham