Fulham (H)

We ground out another result on Monday and another three points to take us back to the top after, as everyone predicted, Chelsea, then Manchester City jumped to the top of the pack. This weekend presents us with a potential chance of opening a slight lead against Chelsea as they welcome a very shaky United tomorrow. To do so we'll have to overcome a Fulham side who have been in poor form recently.

Ahead of the tie it seems we will have a few players missing. Rosicky will miss the match after the referee deemed a very bloody broken nose to be unworthy of stopping the match. Nacho Monreal is another doubt after picking up a knock to his ankle on Monday so I think Gibbs will step back into the team. Ramsey and Arteta remain out so I can see the two holding roles being retained by Wilshere and Flamini. Cazorla seems to be rediscovering his form last season so I think he'll start along with Ozil and of course Giroud up front. The right wing however will be interesting. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his return from the bench against Aston Villa after Serge Gnabry started so they'll jostle for the start. Knowing Wenger I think Gnabry will get the nod as he likes to ease players back in.

Annoyingly Hangeland and Stekelenburg will be back to face us today which gives them experience. Hangeland also gives them power at the back so Giroud could be in for a very physical game. Going up the pitch obviously Berbatov remains a real threat for them and seems to have a worrying habit of scoring against us so our defence will have to keep in quiet. Although Hangeland offers power at the back he isn't the fastest so we will need speed to get through the defence as I think our chances of winning ariel duels could be slim today.

Another important match today where we can't afford to slip up, we go into this game knowing that 3 points means we'll be top for another week and if we do win we'll pile the pressure on Chelsea tomorrow.

Fenerbahce (H)

Apologies for not having anything up before the Fulham game it's been another manic week. Talking of the Fulham game it was just the sort of response we needed after our shocker of an opening weekend with Villa. Our first win and our first 3 points on the board, in comfortable fashion too. 

Now I know there has been a lot of transfer talk as we have less than a week before the close of the window and after tonight I will do a round up post just to get through the pile of players we've been linked with.

So we go into a game tonight where we already have a comfortable lead after our fantastic 3-0 win in Turkey last week. That said we can't relax, all it takes is a couple of first half goals from Fener and the nerves will start all over again. Or we can go out and get an early goal and that would probably put the game to bed. It's a game that we can make as easy or as hard as we want for ourselves.

There is an interesting piece on Arsenal.com today from Wenger about the use of Wilshere and how he is being cautious because he doesn't want a repeat of previous incidents. That might suggest that Wenger is planning to play a similar team to that he fielded on Saturday. The only difference could be Koscielny slotting back into centre-back if his cut has healed up sufficiently.

The manager may have half an eye on the North London derby this Sunday and if all goes well early on he may ring the changes if he feels comfortable. We may see the likes of Cazorla make way. I expect Podolski to keep his place after his double against Fulham and to also possibly make way later on.

As I posted earlier: tonight can be as easy or as difficult as we want to make it. If we go out and look dangerous early we could have the game well and truly killed off within the first half. It all depends on how fired up the players get.

Personally I don't think that much of Fenerbahce and I can see us finishing this tie off early on but it wouldn't be at all surprising if we conceded early and the wobbles started. COYG

Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Fenerbahce
  

Fulham (A)

After Tuesday's result we're left at the moment in a sort of limbo. It's out of our hands but due to cup games for others we'll be in the position come Sunday where we will have played 2 games more than Sp*rs. Whether we go into that 5 points ahead, 3 points ahead or 2 points ahead will entirely depend on how we perform against Fulham. I must admit, the Everton game was disappointing but we might get away with it if we pick up tomorrow.

Now Fulham are a team where if you look at the head-to-head it'll seem as if we dominate the fixture, at home this may be true, but away it's a different story and in recent seasons we've struggled to get 3 points at Fulham. This season Fulham are essentially where they end up most seasons, slap bang in the middle of the table. They took the game to us at the Emirates we only got away with a draw thanks to Giroud bagging a couple. There is no doubt we need a win this weekend with Man City heading to the lane.

Team news this evening has been slow to come out. A few players were in the line for tests to make sure they were fit. Wilshere again looked rusty on Tuesday but that is to be expected, rather worryingly is that Cazorla is also set for a test and if he doesn't make it through I'll be worried. Being hopefully though I think the team will be something like this: SZCZ, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Gervinho, Giroud. It's possible that Gervinho may be replaced by Rosicky but I'm not sure he's fit.

Fulham have problems in the middle of park, so much so that Jol has recalled Alex Kacaniklic from his loan spell. Due to problems on the other side of the park Brian Ruiz was deployed on the right meaning that Berbatov had to sit behind Petric. No doubt that Fulhams main threat is Berbatov but Petric and Ruiz also pop up with goals here and there. Berbatov and Ruiz provide a physical side to Fulhams game.

That said on our day we should be able to overcome Fulham. But at this stage of the season there are no easy games and every 3 points counts and with the potential of Tottenham slipping up against City we need to make sure we've done our job and he pressure is on.

As the games begin to run down every win is crucial and with Robin van Rapist and co coming down next weekend we need to make tomorrows game count. COYG!

Prediction: Fulham 1-2 Arsenal 

Fulham Analysis

It all started to see well, just like against Schalke, then just like against Schalke we conceded a 2 goal lead. It was a match where had we just been tighter at the back we could have gone on to score more and would have easily taken the 3 points.

Giroud, who was fantastic, opened the scoring after just 11 minutes with a powerful header than Schwarzer couldn't keep out. Then on the 23rd minute, Podolski converted Arteta's cross and we were 2 nil up and cruising. However, once again, defensive problems at the back saw Berbatov find space far too easily and simply nod it past Mannone. It then got worse as Berbatov then crossed for Alex Kacaniklic who peeled away from Sagna and headed into the ground from 14 yards. Mannone perhaps could have done better but he did have to travel the length of the goal to get there.

The second half didn't start well either. 20 minutes in Arteta, who had an absolute mare, was caught dallying on the ball by Ruiz and then gave away a penalty. At which point Berbatov stepped up and cooly put the penalty in. We had squandered a 2 goal lead and we all feared the worst. 2 minutes later Giroud came to our rescue, he hit the base of the post with a great effort, it fell to Walcott who then crossed for Giroud to head past Schwarzer again. With seconds left, we got a dubious penalty decision when Arshavin put in a cross that hit a Fulham defenders hand. Harsh, but in this league you have to take these chances and sadly we didn't. Arteta rounded off his shocker by having his penalty saved very well you have to say by Schwarzer. 

I understand that the manager has his penalty takers set out before the game but it seemed the logical move to let Giroud take the penalty, although he missed one against Coventry earlier in the season. That's not a moment to linger on or worry about, everyone misses penalties it just happens. What worries me more is the fact that we once again shipped 2 goals that we should have dealt with.

It's the derby this weekend and its a real chance for either team to kick on as we've both been playing badly. I've heard reports that we will start with 3 centre-backs. If Wenger decides to do that, he will have lost it. For 2 reasons, firstly as an attacking team, removing an option going forward isn't smart. Secondly this is the derby at home, we have to go out and show we mean business, we can't sit an absorb pressure. 

A lot of mixed feelings and opinions ahead of Saturday, I'll be back with mine beforehand on Friday. I'm going to finish by saying that I've seen a lot of talk on twitter about people wanting us to lose at the weekend. We support our team, always. We can be disappointed with results and we have the right make those feelings known but we always have to support the team. It's what we're here for. Until next time enjoy the rest of your week.

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Fulham (A)

Happy New Year and who would have expected that? Man United, Chelsea and Man City losing, Tottenham drawing and us winning. Well maybe not the last part but still a good weekend for Arsenal none the less. Its just a shame that we couldn't win last week otherwise we'd be 4 points clear of Chelsea, but that's life and all that. Fulham away tonight and a game that is difficult to call. Fulham are all over the place this season and we nearly got turned over by them in the reverse of this fixture, yet their results have been poor.

Luckily for us Zamora won't be playing after his link with a few PL clubs so they've lost that threat but have others in the form of Dembele, Dempsey, Johnson etc. So the defence will be given a run around and talking of defence we've suffered yet another injury, this time to Vermaelen who was playing at full back. I swear at the moment our full back position is cursed, so I would assume we'll see Miquel? maybe?? Who knows.

Anyway the rest of the team managed to scrape past QPR unscathed so I would expect a similar team to start. Unless we get an extension granted by the Ivory Coast team this could be the last time we see Gervinho especially baring in mind the next game is Leeds in the FA Cup and Arsene does like to take risks with these sorts of games. A potential banana skin there but more on that at the weekend. 

Today will be a tough game I'm sure but add another 3 points and we're looking good. Short and sweet today, more to come throughout the week.

Prediction: Fulham 0-1 Arsenal 

Fulham (H)

So we're through and top of the group to boot after a favour from Olympiakos who did a number on Marseille in France. We looked much better defensively and apart from conceding in the dying moments we had a good night. Song had an outstanding match and that was apparent when he beat 3 players and delivered a wonderful cross for RVP (who else) to power into the ground and give us a deserved lead. He got his second with a real old school Arsenal goal. Corner, flicked on at the near post, open goal and there you have it.

Sorry but I have to keep this rather short and sweet. We take on Fulham this weekend at the Emirates who have had a really poor season so far. Only 11 points from 12 games and a team that at home we should really take apart. Their man on form this season is Johnson whose scoring mainly in Europe but he's still finding the net. Dempsey and Zamora are also dangerous in the right position. 

So I imagine Wenger will play a team similar to the one that started last night. However after Gervinho's piss poor effort we may see the little Russian start instead, but that's up to Wenger. It was nice to see Diaby come on to a good reception and it would be nice to see him rack up some more game time especially as he gives us a bit more of an attacking threat. Not that we particularly need it.

In other news its nice to see that this weekends match will be dedicated to Save The Children, a very worth cause. All the players will be dedicating their days wages to the charity along with 50p from every matchday programme. There will also be a special matchday raffle to help raise funds. 

Right that's your lot for tonight. Until next time COYG!

Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Fulham

Fulham (A)

So 4th place again it would seem. Another disastrous game and another disastrous result, admittedly we had a perfectly good goal ruled out but still at the back we were equally as awful as the week before. The first finish was one of quality from Bent but he should have had all the room he had to slot the second away. Hopefully this will open Wenger's eyes to the fact that we do have serious defensive issues, I see that we have again been linked with Chris Samba in the morning papers and personally I would welcome that signing.

Anyway, apologies for the lateness of this post its been a busy weekend. Fulham away is never a fixture that we should see as an easy one. On their day they'll give anyone a run for their money, if they have an off day then anyone can turn them over. After fucking up in recent weeks, we have it all to do and to pray that Bolton pull off a win over Man City to avoid the tedious Champions League qualifications and to be honest I can't see us doing it. Either way a win on the last game would be a nice way to round off another disappointing season.

Nasri faced a late fitness test of which the results I dont know so he may play he may not, Cesc Fabregas however is definitely out with a thigh issues. Gael Clichy is also a doubt with a hamstring problem so Keiran Gibbs may start at left back. Otherwise the same squad that played Villa would be my bet. A solid performance today may go someway to helping restore the fans faith.

As for Fulham the usual threats from Johnson, Dempsey, Gudjohnsen etc. However Arsenal fans don't see it as all bad, we may see a familiar face in Senderos playing in defence for them which may be our main outlet of attack. The Swiss pile of shit was never a fan favourite due to his many blunders over the seasons so it may provide some amusement this afternoon. Hopefully Van P will get on the score sheet to equal the record for most goals scored since scoring 0 since January or something to that effect.

So that sad time is upon us once again, the close of the Premier League season. Another season, the trophy cabinet remains empty. Changes need to be made Mr. Wenger, listen to the fans for once. On a much better note congratulations to the Arsenal Ladies team on winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Bristol Academy, at least they can win something. Check back for updates on news and everything Arsenal, enjoy the last day and come on Blackpool!

Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Arsenal