Good night!published at 19:15 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December
Chelsea are ahead of all expectations, it's fair to say.
The packed December schedule continues on Monday night when West Ham take on Wolves. Join us for that one!
Arsenal had a late goal disallowed as they missed the chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points with a draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Bukayo Saka thought he had given the Gunners all three points when he headed in Gabriel Martinelli's cross two minutes from time, but the goal was disallowed after the Brazilian was found to be offside during the build-up.
Raul Jimenez, with his sixth goal of the season, put Fulham in front against the run of play when he latched on to Kenny Tete's ball down the line to fire past David Raya from a tight angle.
Arsenal, looking to capitalise on the postponement of Liverpool's Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday, struggled to carve out opportunities from open play in the first half and managed just one shot on target from Saka.
But Mikel Arteta's side were level within six minutes of the second half after a well-worked corner kick routine saw William Saliba convert Kai Havertz's knockdown.
It was one-way traffic after that as Arsenal pushed to find a winner but they struggled to break down a resolute Fulham side.
The draw means Arsenal are six points behind leaders Liverpool, having played a game more.
After the 4-1 defeat at home to Wolves a fortnight ago, Fulham fans could have been forgiven for dreading a games against Tottenham, Brighton and Arsenal within seven days.
In hindsight, they need not have worried.
A spirited draw against Spurs last weekend was bettered by a 3-1 win against Brighton in midweek.
The visit of Arsenal, though, was the toughest of the lot.
Silva made four changes to his starting line-up from the team that beat Brighton.
In came Tete, Sasa Lukic, Jimenez and Adama Traore with Timothy Castagne, Reiss Nelson, Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson dropping out.
The Cottagers had to weather an early storm as Arsenal settled instantly into their rhythm.
But it was two of Silva's changes that combined to give Fulham the lead in the 11th minute.
Tete - remarkably, with his first touch of the game - threaded a lovely ball down the line between Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior to find Jimenez.
The Mexican, quickly accompanied by Saliba, had plenty to do but he took Raya by surprise by taking his shot early and finding the bottom corner.
It was the home side's only shot on target in the first half but Fulham were good value for their lead as they limited Arsenal to just one shot on target of their own.
A less determined side would have caved after Saliba's equaliser, as Arsenal dominated the remainder of the match in search of a winner.
The Cottagers carried a counter-attacking threat of their own through substitutes Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira, with the latter testing Raya at his near post late on.
It was the end of a testing week for Silva's side but it is one that they have passed with flying colours by taking five points from the nine available.
The Gunners were well below their best in the first half, lacking the sharpness that that they have shown in wins against West Ham, Manchester United and Sporting in recent weeks.
Saka had the Gunners' only shot on target in the opening 45 minutes as the Gunners struggled to create opportunities from open play.
Much was made of Arsenal's prowess from set pieces following the 2-0 win against Manchester United in midweek, with both goals coming from corner kick routines.
The Gunners had set piece coach Nicolas Jover to thank again as they equalised at Craven Cottage with a routine straight from the training ground.
Declan Rice whipped a brilliant in-swinging corner in from the left to the back post, where Havertz nodded down for Saliba to tap home.
The goal - which survived a video assistant referee (VAR) review - was Arsenal's 23rd scored from a corner since the start of the 2023-24 season, more than any club in Europe during that time.
Arteta's side managed just four shots on target during the game and their best opportunities once again came from dead ball situations.
After Liverpool's game against Everton was postponed, the Gunners had the chance to close the gap on the Reds to four points.
They will rue that they could not take full advantage of the opportunity.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 11 | 18 | 35 |
| |
2 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 31 |
| |
3 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| |
4 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| |
5 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 25 |
| |
6 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 25 |
| |
7 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 24 |
| |
8 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 24 |
| |
9 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 23 |
| |
10 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 23 |
| |
11 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 20 |
| |
12 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 21 | -2 | 20 |
| |
13 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| |
14 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 15 |
| |
15 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 14 |
| |
16 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 30 | -9 | 14 |
| |
17 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 13 |
| |
18 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 27 | -13 | 9 |
| |
19 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 36 | -14 | 9 |
| |
20 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 31 | -20 | 5 |
|
Manager: Marco Silva
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: Marco Silva
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Fulham came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 in this exact fixture last season – they’ve never won consecutive league games, or even home league games against the Gunners in their history.
Arsenal failed to win either Premier League meeting with Fulham last season (D1 L1) – only between May 2011 and November 2012 (4) have they had a longer winless run against the Cottagers in their league history.
Arsenal have scored at least once in each of their last 18 Premier League games against Fulham, since a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium in February 2009.
Fulham are unbeaten in their last eight league London derbies (W4 D4), their longest such run since a run of nine between February 2000 and September 2001, a streak that was ended by a 3-1 home loss to Arsenal.
Arsenal have won seven of their last eight Premier League London derbies (D1) since losing 2-1 at Fulham on New Year’s Eve last year. The Gunners have scored 5+ goals in four of these eight games, as many times as they had in their previous 113 league London derby matches combined.
Arsenal have scored 5+ goals in five different away games in all competitions so far in 2024 – no English top-flight side has ever done so six times in a single calendar year (Sunderland in 1892 and Man City in 1937 also 5).
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have scored more goals from corners (22) and more goals from set piece situations (30, excluding penalties) than any other side in the Premier League.
Fulham manager Marco Silva has won four of his 10 previous meetings with Arsenal across all competitions (D1 L5) with each victory coming with a different team (Olympiakos, Watford, Everton, Fulham) – he could win back-to-back games against the Gunners for the first time.
Harry Wilson has scored three goals in his last three Premier League London derby appearances, having netted just once in his first 21 such games for Fulham.
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has been involved in 14 goals in his last 14 London derby matches in the Premier League (7 goals, 7 assists). Overall, Saka has 17 assists in Premier League London derbies, the fourth most in the competition’s history (Cesc Fàbregas 24, Dennis Bergkamp 23, Frank Lampard 18).