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Mikel Arteta says Arsenal have used the international break to “reflect and reset” ahead of the run-in.
The Gunners have twin targets over the final weeks of the season. They face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the first leg coming next week, while they still maintain an outside chance of chasing down Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal are 12 points behind the Merseysiders with just nine games to go and have no room for error, starting tomorrow night against Fulham.
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Arteta said: “We had a good time to reflect and reset and put ourselves in a good position to go into the most exciting part of the Premier League season.
“It’s possible to win tomorrow. The preparation is to be better than Fulham and beat them. If we do that, we will start to build momentum that will help us in both competitions.”
Arsenal have fallen behind Liverpool after a run of just one win in four league games and Arteta is expecting another tough test against a Fulham side who remain in contention to sneak into a European qualifying spot.
He added: “They are always a tough opposition. They are well coached and they have been together for many years. They have great organisation and individual quality.
“They have a very clear identity and idea of how to approach the game. So we have to be very good to beat them.
“We had a lot of dominance in the last game against them [1-1 draw in December], but they were very clinical. They managed to score the goal and sat back and reduced the spaces.”
Fulham head to North London on the back of a morale-sapping 3-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Marco Silva’s men were disappointing but a win at the Emirates would move them up to sixth in the table, one point behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Team News for Arsenal v Fulham
The big news for Arsenal is the fact England winger Bukayo Saka is “ready to go” and will be included in the squad.
Saka has not played since sustaining a serious hamstring injury in the win at Crystal Palace in December but is fit again after a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
“Bukayo Saka is ready to go,” said Arteta.
“All the careful things are already done. Now it’s about putting him in the grass at the right moment. But he’s pushing because he really wants to.
“We have respected the timeline and we have done everything. He is ready to go.”
It’s likely he will start on the bench with Ethan Nwaneri continuing down the right.
The negative for Arsenal is Riccardo Calafiori sustained a knee injury on international duty with Italy and is not available.
Fulham have a clean bill of health and will select from the same squad that took on Palace, although Silva is likely to make changes given their weekend performance.
Predicted line-ups for Arsenal v Fulham
Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Nwaneri, Merino, Martinelli
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Traore, Smith-Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez
How to watch Arsenal v Fulham: TV and online stream
The game is not being show in the UK on television or via an online stream.
However, if you live abroad, check out this list: overseas viewing options
Stats for Arsenal v Fulham
- Arsenal have won five of their last 10 games against Fulham by two goals or more
- There has been a first-half goal in each of Arsenal’s last seven home games
- Fulham have scored a first-half goal in their last four away games
Prediction
Had Fulham won at the weekend this would have been a more difficult game for Arsenal.
But the setback to Palace, and the nature of the defeat, could take some time to get over.
Arsenal will be buoyed by Saka’s return and we think he will reappear in the second half with the game already won.
Prediction: Arsenal 4-1 Fulham