Seeking a fifth Premier League win on the bounce to keep Manchester City at bay, Arsenal make the journey across the capital to meet London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon.

Marco Silva’s side went down 3-2 to Brentford in Monday’s West London derby, while the Gunners played out a high-scoring encounter of their own in Portugal, drawing 2-2 with Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.

A 3-2 West London derby defeat against Brentford in the previous round served as a blow to Fulham’s European dreams. The Cottagers’ position of seventh heading into the weekend will likely be enough for a first European appearance since 2011/12, but having played more Premier League (PL) games than both of their closest chasers, Fulham could soon find themselves playing catch-up.

Returning home could provide a much-needed boost for Marco Silva’s men, who have lost just three of their 13 PL games here this term (W6, D4).

That record could perhaps give Fulham false hope for this clash though, as they’re actually winless at Craven Cottage against sides starting the round above them (D1, L3), a trend which could continue unless they can end a torrid nine-match winless run in H2Hs at any venue against league leaders, Arsenal.

The brilliant work that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has done this season hasn’t gone unnoticed, with rumours Real Madrid are taking a keen interest in making the Spaniard their next boss.

Arteta has said he’s grateful to be at Arsenal and “cannot control what is written”, but he now faces another big task after their gruelling Thursday night trip to face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League (2-2).

The evidence suggests that tired legs from Thursday night action won’t faze the Gunners though, as they’ve amassed a six-game unbeaten PL run in games directly following each of their prior six Europa League matches (W5, D1).

It should be noted that two of those PL wins came in London derbies and without reply, a statistic which bodes well for Arsenal as they look to improve on their impressive 71% win-rate against Fulham in PL action (W22, D6, L3).

Players to watch: Manor Solomon has scored in each of his last five competitive appearances for Fulham, with only Marcus Rashford and Erling Haaland managing longer streaks amongst PL players this season!

Reiss Nelson was Arsenal’s saviour with a last-gasp goal against Bournemouth in the previous round (3-2), securing Arsenal’s first PL win after going 2-0 down since 2011/12!

Hot stat: Arsenal have won all four of their away London derbies in the PL this season by a combined scoreline of 8-0.

Fulham Premier League form:

LDWWDL

Fulham form (all competitions):

WWWDWL

Arsenal Premier League form:

DLWWWW

Arsenal form (all competitions):

LWWWWD

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Lukic; Willian, Pereira, Solomon; Mitrovic

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Martinelli, Nelson

With star striker Mitrovic fit and firing again, Fulham ought to have no problems troubling a permeable Arsenal backline, especially with the Gunners facing a rapid turnaround from their Europa League exertions on Iberian soil.

However, Brentford needed no second invitation to expose the Cottagers’ weaknesses with Palhinha absent, and Arsenal’s well-rested first-teamers ought to do the same as they pass another challenging test of their title credentials.