Match Preview
Fulham v Arsenal
Premier League Match Day 08 25/26 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 18th October 2025 KO: 17:30
Referee:
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Live on Sky
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Fulham will be aiming to return to winning ways and end a two match losing run against table topping Arsenal in Saturday evening's Premier League contest at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva's Fulham spoiled Arsenal's New Year's Eve celebrations in 2023 with a 2-1 win on home soil, before also holding the Gunners to a tense 1-1 draw a year later, when Bukayo Saka had a last-gasp winner disallowed for offside.
Ten months down the line, the Cottagers have reason for optimism once again, as Silva's men are still unbeaten at home in the 2025-26 Premier League season and have taken a praiseworthy seven points from their three top-flight games at Craven Cottage this season.
None of Brentford, Leeds United or Manchester United have managed to knock down the Fulham walls, but the Cottagers continue to trip up on the road, suffering back-to-back 3-1 losses to Aston Villa and Fulham prior to the two-week pause.
The latter result saw Silva's men draw first blood in the 70th minute only to fall victim to a captivating Cherries comeback, and the hosts lie in an unspectacular 14th place in the table as a result, four points away from both the drop zone and the top six.
Furthermore, while Arsenal have not cut the mustard on their last two trips to Craven Cottage, Fulham have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 20 Premier League games against the Gunners, who last failed to score in this fixture in August 2008.
Banishing no fewer than three curses over their past three games, Arsenal exorcised their St James' Park demons, avenged three straight home defeats to Olympiacos and avoided another West Ham United horror show before international football intervened.
The 2-0 triumph over the latter - who had come up trumps at the Emirates in 2023-24 and 2024-25 - lifted Arsenal to first place in the Premier League standings, where they would remain throughout the duration of the break thanks to Chelsea's beating of an ailing Liverpool.
Only trailing Manchester City on the goals scored front and boasting the best defensive record in the division - as was perhaps to be expected - Mikel Arteta's men have been flexing their remarkable squad depth in the early weeks of the season, where they have already had a league-high nine different scorers.
Also factoring in an EFL Cup third-round success at Port Vale, the Gunners' winning streak across all competitions stands at four matches heading into Saturday's London derby - games in which Arteta's men have typically excelled.
Indeed, Arsenal have only been beaten in one of their last 18 Premier League battles against fellow teams from the capital, and they boast an identical record purely away from home in such London derbies, although there is no reward for guessing who that one defeat on the travels came against.
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Fulham have only won one of their last 14 Premier League games against Arsenal (D4 L9), a 2-1 victory in December 2023. Indeed, the Cottagers have conceded at least once in each of their last 20 against the Gunners in the competition.
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After winning five successive league visits to Fulham from 2012-13 to 2022-23, Arsenal have since failed to win at Craven Cottage in both of the last two campaigns (D1 L1). The Gunners last failed to win more consecutive league visits to Fulham in April 1962 (6).
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Fulham have won both of their last two Premier League home games, last winning three in a row at Craven Cottage in December 2023. The Cottagers are looking to avoid defeat in each of their opening four home matches of a league season for the first time since 2011-12.
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Fulham have lost both of their last two Premier League games, and could lose three in a row for the first time since December 2023. They have shipped three goals in both of those last two defeats, last conceding 3+ more times in a row in the competition in September 2020 (4) – a run that included a 0-3 home defeat to Arsenal.
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Fulham’s Alex Iwobi has made eight line-breaking passing into the opposition’s penalty area in the Premier League this season, with only Bruno Fernandes (9) making more. Iwobi has also created four chances via line-breaking passes in the division this term, with Fernandes again the only player to do so more (5).
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Arsenal have only lost one of their last 18 London derbies in the Premier League (W13 D4), a 0-1 home defeat to West Ham in February last season. Indeed, since the start of 2022-23, the Gunners have only lost one of their 18 away league matches against fellow London sides (W13 D4), although that was at Fulham in December 2023 (2-1).
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Since facing 22 shots against Manchester United on MD1, Arsenal have restricted their opponents to fewer than 10 shots in all six of their Premier League games. The last side to face fewer than 10 shots in more successive matches in the competition were Liverpool from April to August 2022 (9), while the Gunners themselves have never had a longer run on Opta’s records in the league (from 2003-04).
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Arsenal have had 14 counter attacking phases of play in the Premier League this season – the most of any side. Last season, the Gunners ranked 17th for this with just 47 in the whole campaign.
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No side has had more different goalscorers (excl. own goals) in the Premier League this season than Arsenal (9, level with Brighton). Only twice before have the Gunners had 10 different players score within their opening eight matches of a Premier League season, doing so in 2009-10 (10 in 4th game) and 2018-19 (8th).
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Declan Rice has scored (1) or assisted (1) in both of Arsenal’s last two Premier League games; the midfielder has only had a hand in a goal in three successive appearances in the competition twice before, doing so in February/March 2024 and April/May 2024. Rice has six goal involvements (2 goals, 4 assists) in his last seven away London derbies in the Premier League.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports