Fulham vs Arsenal Predicted Lineups, Preview, Odds & Prediction

This is a pretty friendly London derby as things go, although Fulham put a real dent in Arsenal’s hopes for challenging last season in this fixture last season by taking a point a Craven Cottage in a 1-1 draw. Fulham come in to this game reeling a little after back-to-back 3-1 losses to Aston Villa and Bournemouth. London’s oldest club are currently 14th in the league, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses and have suffered some key injuries that leaves the squad looking a little thin; not ideal having to now face the title favourites Arsenal. Arsenal come in to this one with confidence high after a late comeback win over Newcastle at St James Park that took them above Liverpool in the table. They have notched 5 wins on the season through 7 games, with a draw against City and a loss to Liverpool but have won 3 straight in all competitions. They have become the betting favourites to win the Premier League title, and a better result at Craven Cottage than they got last season would really instill some extra confidence in players and fans alike that this season is their season. Against a weakened Fulham team low on confidence after consecutive losses, missing Muniz, Tete and Lukic among others, this is a game Arsenal should win if they are to show they deserve title favourite status.

• Can Arsenal extend their lead over Liverpool who play Sunday?
• Can Fulham stop their mini skid and dent Arsenal’s title hopes?
• Favourite bet: Eberechi Eze to score or assist: 11/10!

Find out all of that and much more in our preview of Fulham vs Arsenal. We have a match preview, predicted lineups, team and injury news, live odds, our score prediction and more for this GW8 matchup.

Match Details:

Fixture: Fulham vs Arsenal

Stadium: Craven Cottage

Date: Saturday 18th October

Kick-off: 5:30pm BST

Match Betting Odds:

Fulham to win: 21/5

Draw: 10/3

Arsenal to win: 8/15

Both Teams to Score Odds: 

Yes: 1/1 (Great value on Betrino/Betway)

No: 77/100 (Great value on Betrino/Betway)

Player to Score Odds:

Viktor Gyokeres: 21/20

Bukayo Saka: 2/1

Player to Score or Assist Odds:

Bukayo Saka: 4/5

Eberechi Eze: 11/10 (Favourite bet on Betrino/Betway)

Alex Iwobi: 5/2

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Premier League Head-to-Head Record

Marco Silva has more than caused Arteta and Arsenal some issues over recent years despite the fact that Fulham have only beaten Arsenal twice since 2012 – an incredible stat. The recent games do tend to be close and to produce at least 2 goals, as far as their last 5 league meetings are concerned. Arsenal do have the overall edge in recent meetings, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 Fulham win – that win did take place at Craven Cottage in the 23/24 season, so Fulham will hope Silva is able to reproduce a similar performance at home this weekend.

Fulham Arsenal Recent Premier League Results

01/04/25 - Arsenal 2-1 Fulham

08/12/24 - Fulham 1-1 Arsenal

31/12/23 - Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

26/08/23 - Arsenal 2-2 Fulham

12/03/23 - Fulham 0-3 Arsenal

Fulham Overview and Form:

Fulham are coming off the back of consecutive 3-1 losses to Aston Villa and Bournemouth, and now find themselves 14th in the league. Plenty of time to climb the table, but after a quiet summer where Kevin was the only real signing that has made an impact this season, it is understandable that despite Fulham’s fans faith in Marco Silva, there are some concerns. Things do not get any easier, facing the best team in the country through 7 games this Saturday. Fulham did win their 2 prior games to Aston Villa and Bournemouth so they are not too far removed from successfully executing game plans, and will look to gain that momentum back by causing a major upset this weekend, and for the second season running frustrate Arteta’s Arsenal when they come to Craven Cottage.

Fulham as an attacking unit have been an average to slightly below average team, having scored 8 goals in 7 games, only 7 teams have scored less. They sit 14th in xG in the league at 7.2xG created so that somewhat tracks with their actual goal output. Muniz being out for this game and the last couple of games has hurt Fulham’s attack, as he is quite clearly their best striker at this point in Raul Jimenez’s career. Silva has wanted to make Muniz, Iwobi, Wilson and King the foundation of the attack and then to get contributions when needed from Jimenez, Kevin and Smith-Rowe. There is also the potential for Silva to transition to Iwobi playing one of the 2 deeper central midfield roles with Kevin starting at left-wing, as he has shown real potential and a skillset 1 on 1 that Fulham do not have currently as good as Iwobi is. It will be a very difficult task trying to break down this Arsenal defence that is the best in the league, but they certainly do have the players who can create decisive moments, especially in transition.

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

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Fulham Predicted Lineup:

Fulham Predicted Lineup GW8

GK - Leno

RWB - Castagne

CB - Diop

CB - Andersen

CB - Bassey

LWB - Sessegnon

CM - Berge

CM - Iwobi

RAM - Wilson

LAM - King

ST - Jimenez

Fulham Team News:

Marco Silva speaking on Friday revealed “Kenny Tete is recovering, but still not at that level yet. Samuel Chukwueze came out of the last game for Nigeria, and today, he went for a scan. It doesn’t look really, really serious”. Those were the only 2 major injury updates from Silva on Friday. Castagne will continue playing RB/RWB while Tete is out.

Rodrigo Muniz is set to be sidelined even after the international break. Fulham Manager Andre Silva revealed “Right now, I can assure you that Rodrigo is going to be out. More than just this game, we believe even after the international break, it’s going to be an issue for them to be ready for the next ones”. Does not sound optimistic for the Brazilian’s chances of playing in this game. GW9 is likely the earliest he will return.

Silva informed the media that “Lukic has an injury to the adductor of his left leg, with a break between four and six weeks” after he limped off in the first half vs Bournemouth. Brutal injury blow for a struggling Fulham side. Cairney will replace him in the starting lineup as he did against Bournemouth.

Fulham played a back-5 in GW7 vs Bournemouth, and Newcastle had some success with a back-5 limiting Arsenal’s chance creation outside of the first 30 minutes of that game where Arsenal were on top. I expect him to stick with the 3-4-2-1 although he could shift back to the 4-2-3-1 he employs, with Cairney likely coming in for the extra CB Diop and Iwobi shifting to LW.

I think Iwobi will replace the injured Lukic in midfield, which would allow Silva to play the 3-4-2-1 but still feel like there is enough attacking talent on the pitch to hurt Arsenal by having everything Iwobi offers you in midfield but keeping King and Wilson on the pitch along with a true 9 in Jimenez, rather than playing Cairney with Iwobi further forward. Cairney feels like a wasted body against a team as good as Arsenal.

Fulham Players to Watch:

Tete: Out for a few more weeks in all likelihood.

Lukic: Left leg injury – out 4-6 weeks.

Muniz: Expected to miss more time after the international break.

Jimenez: Should be fit to start.

King: Seems to be a key player for Silva. Favoured over the likes of Smith-Rowe and Kevin.

Cairney: Could start in midfield.

Sessegnon: Seems to be the first choice left-back / left wing-back over Robinson.

Robinson: Surprisingly not been a factor this season. Could still be recovering from an injury.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal Predicted Lineup GW3

GK - Raya

RB - Timber

CB - Saliba

CB - Gabriel

LB - Calafiori

CM - Zubimendi

CM - Rice

AM - Eze

RW - Saka

ST - Gyokeres

LW - Trossard

Arsenal Team News:

Mikel Arteta speaking Friday on Martin Odegaard’s injury revealed “He will be weeks, no definite date for his return, but he’s evolving well. It’s very unlucky what’s happening with him and his injuries this season, but I think he will be back in a few weeks…It could be (until the next inernational break) but we will have to see how he is progressing, how his knee is feeling, how he manages the next steps in his rehab, it’s too early to get an answer”. However quickly he may return, what is sure is Odegaard will be out at least 3 weeks, and Eze should step into his place in midfield playing in front of Rice and Zubimendi or occassionally on the right of a more true 3 man midfield depending on game and situation.

Arteta also informed the media Friday “All the players come from different countries, different amount of games and minutes played. We believe it was the right thing to do. [Martin Zubimendi’s] load has been really high, but he will be available… [Ben White] Very similar.” Seems both White and Zubimendi should be available to start. Zubimendi almost certainly will, whereas Timber likely starts over White.

On Hincapie Arteta revealed is train”He is training again with us. If everything is right, he will be available as well” which is good news for Arteta and Arsenal fans. Even more defensive depth for the best defensive team in the league.

Rice was subbed off in the 79th minute vs West Ham complaining of back pain. “He’s not all right because he asked me to come off, so that’s a shame. He had a pain in his back and he could not carry on which is something very unusual for Declan so we’ll have to assess him and see how he is”. I would expect it is nothing serious and the international break provides the time for him to recover and be fully fit. Rice then started both games for England during the international break and will be fit to face Fulham.

Arteta also informed the media that “[Madueke] getting closer. He’s going to start very soon to do some running”. Good news. A possibility for GW9 although maybe a distant one.

Speaking on Kai Havertz Arteta said “Very difficult, there is a lot to do in his rehab. He’s really pushing… But we have to protect him and make sure when he comes back, he’s back for the long term”. Sounds like Havertz is likely out until after the next international break.

Arsenal Players to Watch:

Rice: Came off against West Ham with back pain. Should be fit for Fulham. Started both games for England during the international break.

Zubimendi: Will start.

Odegaard: Suffered an MCL strain that will sideline him for at least 3 weeks.

Hincapie: Expected to be available.

Madueke: Could return in GW9.

Havertz: Going to be out a while longer.

Eze: Likely to play centrally as a 10 rather than LW.

Fulham vs Arsenal Preview & Predicted Score:

Score Prediction: Fulham 1-2 Arsenal