Fulham manager Marco Silva has revealed which five Arsenal stars he’s fearful of ahead of todays clash against the Gunners. Arsenal missed the chance to...
Fulham manager Marco Silva has revealed which five Arsenal stars he’s fearful of ahead of todays clash against the Gunners.
Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Premier League on Thursday as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta’s side had chances to score on multiple occasions but left their shooting boots at home after registering 30 attempts on goal without scoring – the most any side has managed in a single Premier League match in six years.
As such, Arsenal’s front three of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus have suffered criticism for not being clinical but Marco Silva knows the North London giants have the quality to punish any team in the top flight.
Marco Silva names the five Arsenal players he fears most
In the reverse fixture back in August, Fulham did phenomenally well to salvage a point at the Emirates.
Andreas Pereira (1?) gave the visitors an early lead inside the first minute but that was eventually broken when Bukayo Saka (70?) scored a penalty before Eddie Nketiah (72?) came off the bench to put the Gunners ahead.
Just when it looked as though the Gunners had pocketed three points, long-term Arsenal target Joao Palhinha (87?) popped up with a late equaliser to salvage a point.
Despite doing reasonably well to nullify Arteta’s star men, Silva has called for his side to be defensively resolute in this fixture and has picked out five players who can ‘punish any team in the country’.
He said: “They have the capacity to push a team back really low and it is difficult to press them really high because when they beat the pressure they are a tough team to face.
“(Oleksandr) Zinchenko gives them quality with an extra man in the middle and the likes of (Gabriel) Martinelli, (Bukayo) Saka, (Martin) Odegaard and (Kai) Havertz are a threat and can punish any team in this country.
“We need to be well organised and stick together in certain moments. They are pressing us, putting us under pressure in moments and when we have the ball we have to express ourselves as well.”
Can Arsenal bounce back against Fulham?
Arteta’s side have only suffered back-to-back defeats once in all competitions this season. They lost 1-0 against Newcastle United after a 3-1 defeat against West Ham in the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal have generally shown their powers of recovery throughout this campaign and Silva has even admitted that he’s more wary of playing the Gunners this time around as top teams always tend to bounce back.
Silva’s concerns are supported by the fact that Arsenal have won their last five meetings at Craven Cottage, winning 3-0 on their last visit thanks to goals from Gabriel, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli.
With Arteta demanding a response from his team and feeling confident they can take their chances, the Gunners must put in a statement performance in West London to keep hot on the heels of Liverpool at the top.