Smith Rowe starts in 4 big changes | Expected Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1) vs Fulham

Arsenal will be aiming to return to winning ways when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage today.

The Gunners had a poor performance against West Ham United in midweek. They dominated the possession and created clear-cut chances, but were unable to capitalise.

The Hammers came on top with a 2-0 victory, but Mikel Arteta’s side should have won the derby with the scoring opportunities that came their way. The finishing was unacceptable.

They will be aiming to make amends in today’s derby against the Cottagers.

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Predicted Line-up:

David Raya could not do much to prevent either goal conceded against the Hammers. The Spaniard’s confidence should be up after saving a late penalty to avoid further embarrassment for the Gunners. He is expected to continue in goal.

In front of him, we anticipate one change in the backline. Oleksandr Zinchenko was pretty poor with his defensive decisions last time around. He gifted possession to the Hammers needlessly and failed to track the run of Kostas Mavropanos for the second goal conceded.

The Swede could drop to the substitutes’ bench. Takehiro Tomiyasu is back in training after his recent injury but we anticipate Jakub Kiwior to start at left-back. The rest of the defence should stay the same with Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes keeping their places.

In midfield, Declan Rice should continue as the defensive midfielder, but Leandro Trossard looks set to be dropped after struggling to impress from the number eight role. Barring one shot in the second half, the Belgian failed to make a significant impact in the recent London derby.

Kai Havertz should be reinstated in the position after serving his one-game suspension. Further forward, Martin Odegaard is expected to start in the number 10 role. The club captain was brilliant versus the Hammers with six key passes but his teammates let him down.

Bukayo Saka should start on the left wing but we anticipate changes elsewhere in attack. Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus could be dropped on the back of the Hammers loss. Martinelli was ineffective in the box again while Jesus squandered two big chances. One of those was a free header at the far post.

We fancy Emile Smith Rowe to get the nod on the left side of the Gunners’ attack ahead of Reiss Nelson after a lively cameo on Thursday. Eddie Nketiah could be handed the chance to lead the line. He scored in the 2-2 draw against the Cottagers at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season.

How Arsenal could line up against Fulham

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com