Arsenal will be hoping to maintain their 100 per cent winning record in the Premier League so far this season as they welcome Fulham to the Emirates on Saturday.
The Gunners face the Whites in a London derby this weekend, and while in years gone by Fulham would be easy opposition, things have changed in west London.
Indeed, the Cottagers are looking brilliant so far this term. They’re unbeaten after three games, Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed have combined to make one of the Premier League’s best midfield duos, while Aleksandar Mitrovic has been finding the back of the net at will.
This will not be an easy game for Arsenal, and with that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting the Gunners’ starting XI for this one.
We expect just one change to the team that beat Bournemouth so convincingly last weekend as Takehiro Tomiyasu comes in for Ben White.
This is a tactical change as opposed to White being dropped for poor form.
Indeed, one thing we have seen time after time this season is Aleksandar Mitrovic peeling off the centre-backs to target the full-backs for back-post headers, and Arteta will surely be wary of that threat.
White isn’t as much of an aerial presence as Tomiyasu, so we expect the Japan international to come in at right-back to counter the threat posed by Mitrovic in the air.
Other than that, it’s the same XI we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in recent weeks, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes continue to grow their partnership at centre-back, while the young quartet of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus pose the most attacking threat for the Gunners.
This won’t be an easy game for Arsenal, but the north Londoners will be confident of making it four wins from four in the Premier League with a victory here.
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