With Brighton and Hove Albion not playing until Saturday evening and Man City not playing until Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have the opportunity, however temporary it may be, to top the Premier League table on Saturday.
The Gunners host London rivals Fulham in what’s expected to be a difficult London derby, and to that end, the Spaniard has picked arguably his strongest available squad, with Leandro Trossard coming back into the starting XI.
Introducing our starting XI…
?? Saliba in defence
?? Kiwior at left back
?? Trossard returns in attackCOYG ?? pic.twitter.com/LLfHDpK1y7
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 26, 2023
Aaron Ramsdale has kept the challenge of David Raya at bay and continues between the posts, with William Saliba at the heart of a strong Gunners back line.
The spine of the team sees Declan Rice shoring up the midfield, allowing the likes of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz the freedom of the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have an exciting front three of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard, and that will arguably mean Fulham will have their work cut out to keep the trio at bay for 90 minutes.
A mixture of pace, power, flair and creativity up front for the hosts should see the Cottagers on the back foot for long periods, however, as Bournemouth and others showed last season, if you get at Arsenal they can prove to be vulnerable at times and that’ll surely be in Marco Silva’s thinking ahead of kick-off.