Arsenal travel to Craven Cottage on New Year’s Eve, hoping to get back to winning ways against a Fulham side who are sat comfortably in midtable.
Mikel Arteta’s side have only picked up one point from their last two games as they drew against Liverpool and suffered a shock 2-0 loss at home to West Ham in midweek.
Arsenal Hoping to Bounce Back Against Fulham at Craven Cottage
Arteta Needs to Get More Out of The Starting Attackers
It is clear for everyone to see that Arteta’s attacking options have dried up considerably from the soaring heights of last season. Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus have not hit the number of goal contributions in the league expected of attackers starting week in, week out, and as of late Bukayo Saka’s impact on games has dipped alongside his teammates.
The trio of Saka, Jesus and Martinelli have a combined ten goals in the Premier League, with Saka carrying half of that contribution. They need their attackers to step up after a poor showing in the first half of the season. After 19 games, they scored 36 goals at 1.9 per game, seventh in the standings, whereas their three main title rivals, Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa, make up the top three.
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Mix Up The Attacking Options
From their last 81 shots, they have only scored three goals; for those three, there have been 24 shots on target. This is an outstanding waste of chances, and if Arteta is to manage his players based on merit, then he will surely need to switch it up for the match against Marco Silva’s side.
Eddie Nketiah is currently the Gunners’ top goal scorer in the league with a lowly sum of five goals and will be pushing to start after seeing the starting attackers fail to make the most of their chances. The Englishman has been described as a “beast” by Arteta, providing a presence in the opposition’s box, by occupying centre halves, unlike Jesus, who takes it upon himself to roam into midfield and on the wings. Arsenal are crying out for a player to stick to the penalty area, and the fox-in-the-box tendencies of Nketiah are much needed in this team right now. The return of Kai Havertz, who is at his best when he makes late runs from midfield into the box, will be welcomed by the north Londoners as he is more than capable of making a difference at this level.
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Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe will also hope for more minutes as they watch from the sidelines. And with the star attackers floundering in this current set-up, they might have a chance to stake their claim very soon. Game changers and match-winners are in short supply for the Gunners, and if these two can make their mark, they could push one of the established attackers onto the bench.
