The Craven Cottage will host Fulham taking on Arsenal in Game-week 20 of the English Premier League. After being the table toppers at Christmas, Arsenal was defeated and humiliated by West Ham on Boxing Day. Sit back and relax as we and the AI predict the winner of this game at the end of 90 minutes.
Fulham Recent form
Aside from their victory on penalties against Everton in the third round of the EFL Cup, Fulham has had little to celebrate over the festive period. They suffered their third consecutive Premier League defeat without scoring, losing 3-0 to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Boxing Day. Fulham put up a good fight in the first half, but Justin Kluivert scored for Bournemouth just before halftime, followed by goals from Dominic Solanke and Luis Sinisterra in the second half. This loss marks Fulham’s 10th defeat in the league this season, putting them among the teams with the most losses at this stage, alongside Luton Town, Burnley, and Sheffield United, all struggling in the relegation zone. Fulham currently sits 13th in the table, six points above the bottom three but having played one more game than Luton in 18th place.
Fulham will be hoping for better fortune as they return to Craven Cottage, where they have earned 15 of their 21 Premier League points this season. The team had a successful run of three consecutive home wins, scoring a total of 13 goals and conceding only two, before unexpectedly losing 2-0 to Burnley in their most recent home match last weekend.
Fulham has faced difficulties against Arsenal in their previous 11 meetings, failing to secure a victory. Additionally, they have lost each of their last seven home matches against other London-based teams in the Premier League. However, considering their strong finishes in five of the last eight calendar years, it would be unwise to completely disregard the possibility of Fulham achieving a positive result on Sunday.
Arsenal Recent form
Earlier this month, Fulham secured an impressive 5-0 home victory over West Ham United. This was the same West Ham team that had surprised Arsenal with a 2-0 win at the Emirates, ending Arsenal’s 10-game unbeaten home run. Goals from Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos helped West Ham to their first-ever away win against Arsenal under the management of David Moyes. David Raya also played a crucial role in preventing a bigger defeat by saving a penalty from Said Benrahma in stoppage time.
Interestingly, since the 2008-2009 season, no Premier League team has had more touches in the penalty area without scoring in a single match than Arsenal did against West Ham. At the midpoint of the season, Arsenal have accumulated 10 fewer points compared to the same stage last season, which is the joint-biggest drop-off in the Premier League along with Fulham.
With their recent drop in form, Arsenal missed an opportunity to regain their position at the top of the table and currently sit in second place, two points behind leaders Liverpool. They are also one and three points ahead of Aston Villa and Manchester City respectively, with City having a game in hand.
However, Arsenal can take confidence from their previous visits to Craven Cottage as they have won their last five matches there, scoring three or more goals in each of their last four encounters. Additionally, Arsenal have won their final league game in 12 of the last 16 calendar years. Therefore, Arsenal will be hoping to end their recent slump and start the year on a positive note by securing a victory against Fulham.
Fulham vs Arsenal Key Stats
- Fulham hasn’t won in the last 11 encounters with Arsenal, with their most recent victory dating back to January 2012.
- Arsenal has won their last five Premier League away games against Fulham, consistently scoring three or more goals in the last four.
- In 33 Premier League matches against Fulham, Arsenal has only lost thrice, each defeat occurring at Craven Cottage by a single-goal margin.
- Fulham faces the risk of enduring four straight league defeats without scoring for the first time since 1971.
- The team has accrued 21 points, a considerable 10 points fewer compared to the same stage last season.
- Despite a prolific start in December with 13 goals in three matches, Fulham hasn’t scored in their following three outings.
AI Predicts Winner of Fulham vs Arsenal
We gave the stats, recent head-to-head game facts, and current form of both the teams to Natural Language processing AIs (ChatGpt and Bard), and here are the results.
ChatGPT’s prediction
“Considering the historical records and recent performances:
Arsenal seems poised to secure the win based on their dominance in recent encounters, consistent scoring away against Fulham, and their overall strong away form in London derbies. Fulham’s recent struggles to score might further favor Arsenal’s chances.”
Bards’s prediction
“Arsenal to edge out Fulham despite their recent dip in form, fueled by their historical dominance (5 straight away wins, scoring 3+ goals in 4), unbeaten away London run, and Magalhaes’ scoring record against them. Fulham’s goal drought and lack of recent wins tip the scales towards a narrow Gunners victory.”
Our Experts Predict the Winner of Fulham vs Arsenal
With the motivation to secure a top-two position in the New Year, Arsenal will be eager to triumph on Sunday. However, their chances of success at Craven Cottage are not certain due to their recent decline in performance. Even though they previously faced frustration from an underperforming Fulham team, Arteta’s title contenders are expected to be favored and will be determined to rectify their past encounter at a venue where they have achieved numerous victories in recent times.
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