Arsenal vs Fulham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2022-08-26 16:30.
A rampant Arsenal have started their Premier League (PL) campaign with three consecutive victories for the first time since 2004/05, a season where they strung five opening wins together – beating opponents here Fulham along the way (3-0). A new era has begun, and the revitalised Gunners are now the first top-flight side since Everton (1938/39) to win their first three matches of a campaign after losing the first three of the previous season!
Top of the table after three rounds, Arsenal’s most notable improvement has arguably been seen in their defence, which has kept two clean sheets this campaign after failing to register a single shutout in the final ten PL games of last season (W5, L5). In fact, Arsenal defended so effectively in their 3-0 away victory over Bournemouth last weekend, that their South Coast opponents became only the second side in PL history to fail to register a first-half touch or shot in the opposition box!
That might worry a visiting Fulham side that have failed to score in three of their previous five matches (W1, D2, L2), as well as only four times across their previous seven H2Hs with London rivals Arsenal (D1, L6). However, despite a Carabao Cup defeat to fourth-tier Crawley in midweek, Fulham have also had a fantastic start to their PL campaign and will arrive at the Emirates unbeaten this season (W1, D2), so don’t expect the visitors to lie down here.
Fulham broke a potentially important duck in their 3-2 victory over Brentford last weekend too, marking a first win in 25 top-flight London derbies. They tend to start fast away from home, grabbing the first goal in four of their last six league matches (W2, D1, L3), which may be vital here as Arsenal’s last five PL home games have seen the leader at half-time claim all three points.
Key battle: Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko has an 82% PL match win-rate – which is the highest percentage for any player with 50+ appearances in the competition. He’ll hope to thwart notorious Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrović whose three goals this season has already matched his goal tally from the entirety of his last PL campaign, but he has never been on the winning side against Arsenal (D1, L5).
Hot streak: Arsenal have won five consecutive PL games against newly-promoted PL sides by an aggregate scoreline of 12-3.