Arsenal

Who: Arsenal vs Fulham
What: English Premier League
Where: Emirates Stadium, London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday, May 2, at 5:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

For all the talk of ‌Arsenal having blown their Premier League title hopes after being reeled in by Manchester City, the truth is that come ⁠Saturday, they could have re-established ⁠a six-point lead to pile the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side.

City’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on April 29 meant that, having trailed by 10 points a few weeks earlier, they were able to knock Mikel Arteta’s side ⁠off the summit for the first time since October.

Momentum appeared to have shifted completely, but the fixture schedule may have come to Arsenal’s rescue as they try to clinch a first English crown since 2004.

How can Arsenal re-establish their Premier League lead so quickly?

With City otherwise engaged in FA Cup semifinal action last weekend, Arsenal ⁠ground out a 1-0 home win over Newcastle United to end a four-match losing streak in domestic competitions.

On Saturday, they host London rivals Fulham while City do not play again in the league until Monday, when they face a tough-looking trip to European-chasing Everton.

While City would have two games in hand before they kick off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the prospect of again having to make up a six-point gap with ‌absolutely no margin for error would be a serious test of their resolve.

How do Arsenal and Fulham shape up for Premier League clash?

According to data analysts Opta, Arsenal are still favourites to end the season on top – but that could all change if they stumble against Marco Silva’s Fulham.

Sitting in 10th place with four games, Fulham are still very much in the hunt for European qualification and will be looking to exploit any Arsenal fatigue after Arteta’s side’s 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semis on Wednesday.

“We will go there with no fear, and play for the badge,” Fulham midfielder Josh King said.

Stat attack – Fulham at Arsenal

History will be a considerable comfort, however, to Arsenal fans struggling to cope with ⁠the title-race tension.

Fulham have played 32 times away to Arsenal in all competitions and never won.

City’s record ⁠at Everton is equally impressive, though, losing none of their last 18 in all competitions and winning 15 of them and drawing three.

Whatever the outcome of Arsenal’s derby with Fulham, a City win at Everton would then give them the chance to crank up the pressure as their next league game at home to Brentford ⁠comes the day before Arsenal’s trip to West Ham United, a fixture being described as Arsenal’s toughest in the run-in.

What happened the last time Arsenal played Fulham?

Arsenal beat Fulham 1-0 in the reverse fixture between the sides earlier this season at Craven Cottage.

Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game on October 18, in the 58th minute.

The home side failed to register a shot on target, while Arsenal managed five and had a 63 percent share of possession.

When did Fulham last beat Arsenal?

The west London club secured a 2-1 home win in the Premier League two seasons ago.

Raul Jimenez and Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored the goals to turn the game around following Bukayo Saka’s fifth-minute opener.

Head-to-head

This will be the 67th meeting between the sides, with Arsenal winning 44 of the encounters and Fulham claiming the spoils nine times.

The first match between the sides came in 1904 in an FA Cup tie that Arsenal won 3-2.

The next game came 10 years later when the sides met in the league for the first time, with Fulham exacting revenge with a 6-1 home win in the old Division Two.

Arsenal team news

Both the German and fellow forward Eze were injured in the Premier League win against Newcastle last week, but the latter shrugged off his knock to appear as a substitute against Atletico.

Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino are both definite absentees through injury, but Riccardo Calafiori returned to the bench for the Champions League game in midweek and could be in line for a start.

Arsenal predicted starting lineup

Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Eze

Fulham team news

Former Tottenham winger Ryan Sessegnon could return from a knock sustained in Fulham’s last outing, but Alex Iwobi’s thigh problem means he will not face his former club.

Kenny Tete and Kevin remain confirmed absentees.

Fulham predicted starting lineup

Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze; Jimenez

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes that the penalty awarded against Atletico Madrid for a foul on Eberechi Eze was not a “clear and obvious error”, meaning VAR did not need to intervene and the original on-field decision to give the penalty should have stood.

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal draw at Atletico after penalty controversy

Available to UK users only.

Arsenal close the gap on leaders Manchester City to eight points with two games in hand, after a resounding 7-0 win against Leicester City. The result confirms the Foxes will finish bottom of the Women’s Super League table and face a relegation play-off.

MATCH REPORT: Women’s Super League – Arsenal 7-0 Leicester City

Available to UK users only.

We’ve had two nights of handball controversy, first involving Bayern Munich and now Arsenal.

In both cases, the ball took a deflection off the body before hitting the arm, and fans have been conditioned into thinking this means there cannot be a penalty.

What referees actually look for is a clear change of trajectory. Why is that? Because it means the arm position would not create a barrier to the natural direction of the ball.

If the ball stays on roughly its intended path, then the ball touching the arm takes precedent.

The penalty given against Alphonso Davies on Tuesday would not have been awarded in the Premier League as the arm was too close to the body.

For Uefa, the fact that the arm moves out from the body before the ball hits it would trump the small deflection.

But Ben White’s handball against Atletico was a very clear penalty under Uefa’s definition. The arm was a long way out from the body and came in to make contact with the ball.

There is some discretion if the arm is being brought in to make the body smaller, but in White’s case it started from so far out, a penalty would be expected.

The Premier League is more relaxed than Europe even when it comes to deflections before a handball. That said, Arsenal defender Gabriel should have really conceded a penalty at Newcastle earlier this season as his arm, when sliding, was raised very high and the deflection off the body was negligible.

Would the ball deflecting off White’s shin have caused VAR to stay out of this in the Premier League? Possibly, but the movement of the arm was very clear.

A definite spot-kick in Europe, borderline for the Premier League.

After watching Manchester City slip to a 3-2 defeat by Brighton on Saturday, Arsenal fans started to believe they had a chance.

And Slegers’ team made sure to capitalise on the opportunity with seven unanswered goals against Leicester, improving their goal difference to 33 – six behind City.

Leah Williamson’s glancing header – the Gunners’ seventh against Leicester – also took their tally to 103 goals under Slegers. No WSL team has scored more since she was appointed – initially as interim boss – in October 2024.

“Clean sheet, seven goals scored, different scorers – it was a great night for us,” Slegers said to Sky Sports.

“You saw so many players playing the Arsenal way, we played attractive football and we were very brave in everything we did.”

What will also boost Arsenal’s belief is their squad’s strength in depth.

With the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Lyon awaiting on Saturday, Slegers rested Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Mariona Caldentey, Caitlin Foord and Alessia Russo against the Foxes.

Their replacements did the job.

On her 100th WSL appearance, Maanum scored the opening goal and assisted two more, while Smilla Holmberg bagged her first two goals in an Arsenal shirt.

Stina Blackstenius has often had to play second fiddle to Russo, but the Swede, who scored the winning goal in last season’s Champions League final, showed her quality with two goals in the space of nine minutes.

“Everyone knows their role and brings their strengths. There are such high levels of communication and trust within the team, on the pitch, off the pitch,” Slegers added.