Fulham and two key battles.

Morning all.

Just six days to go until this summer transfer window closes. Mikel Arteta said in his press conference yesterday that Arsenal still have a plan to add another player or two to the squad now that Nicolas Pepe has left:

If we can implement the plan that we have, we will try to do that. In the plan, that [Pepe’s loan move] was something that could happen – now it’s a reality and we’ve been preparing the last two months in order to achieve what we want. We’ve let a player go and will maybe be able to recruit somebody. Whether that’s possible or not, we will see.

Bearing in mind he also said that the club are not in danger of breaching FFP, and the stories suggesting we are, are inaccurate, there’s still a chance a winger and/or midfielder could yet arrive at Arsenal. As Arteta said, we’ll see.

The Europa League Cup draw was made yesterday and Arsenal are in Group A along with PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt, Zurich. The toughest opponent is PSV Eindhoven I think but all will be tough if the players think they’re already through to the knockout stage. The fist fixture takes place on the 8th September, which isn’t that far off.

Today sees Arsenal take on Fulham, the first of three matches in a week. The first Fulham player I think about is Aleksandar Mitrovic whose 40 odd goals last season pretty much secured Marco Silva’s team promotion back to the Premier League. He’s already scored three goals and two of those were against Liverpool. Mind you, everyone is scoring against Liverpool so far this season. Seriously though, he’s a big presence up front and both William Saliba and Gabriel will have to keep their eye on him, especially on set-pieces. Same as always though, if we as a team don’t give away any silly free kicks in dangerous areas, the ariel threat is lessened. Cutting out the supply of crosses Fulham like to direct towards him will be key too.

Fulham aren’t just about their big striker though, they’re a good footballing side with a lot of quality. The addition of Joao Palhinha this summer has given them more strength in midfield. He’s the kind of player we could do with in my opinion. Tall, strong and powerful. Whilst the pre-match talk in the media is about how will our defenders deal with Mitrovic, I’m intrigued to see how our midfield deal with Palhinha. He ran rings around Liverpool.

Marco Silva’s team have had an odd start to the season. A 2-2 draw against Liverpool, 0-0 at Wolves, a 3-2 win over Brentford and then in midweek, were knocked out of the League Cup by Crawley Town. Admittedly, Silva played a totally different team against Crawley Town, but even so. The first team were 2-0 up against Brentford but squandered that lead but Mitrovic nicked a winner just seconds before the final whistle blew. They surrendered a lead against Liverpool too which suggests their defending is not as strong as their attack. Fill your boots Arsenal.

Barring Reiss Nelson, everyone is fit for this evening’s game which is good news and with Marquinhos not being in the Under 21 squad which drew 2-2 away at Brighton, he might at least make it onto the bench later today. With three fixtures in seven days and Europa League Cup fixtures just around the corner, all of players need some playing time I think so they’re fit and ready to be called on.

Saying that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mikel Arteta start with the same eleven who breezed past Bournemouth last weekend. If we can be more ruthless in front of goal when/if the opportunities arrive, there’s more chance the manager will use his five substitutes.

Should be a good game. For Arsenal I mean…