Infogol's Expected Goals Conceded metric had Fulham conceding nearly 12 more than they did last season. The 59.8 gives them the 10th best defensive record, as opposed to fourth in actual goals against, and that is a concern against a side who are getting stronger in attack.
Goals scored wasn't an issue and their xG figure is in line with their position in the table but the defensive side of Fulham's team remains a concern and a back-up left-back arriving isn't necessarily enough to address that right now.
Arsenal have defensive issues of their own with David Luiz battling to be fit while Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers are all recovering from injuries of their own. It appears to be a contest where the odds-on price for both teams to score should be hit.
The visitors finished sixth in the 'over 3.5 match goals standings' last season and that trend should continue while they balance a few problems in the back line in the early stages of the new campaign.
Fulham 1-3 Arsenal ()
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Although it's very difficult to look beyond Arsenal in this meeting, there are reasons to be optimistic as a Fulham supporter.
The Gunners played six league matches on the road after the restart, and lost four. Looking at their two victories, one was an impressive win at Wolves, the other at Southampton, statistically the second-worst home team in last season's top flight.
While there is no denying they're in excellent form - having lost just twice in 12 games - the same can be said for Fulham, whose only defeat in 10 matches was a second-leg loss that was enough to win their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final.
doesn't seem ridiculous, and neither does when considering the next stat.
That 2-1 home defeat by Cardiff in the play-offs was one of only two occasions during the last 10 matches that Fulham have conceded more than once, recording five clean sheets in that time. For them to keep
seems a likely outcome, especially when you consider that 12 of their 16 wins since the Spaniard's appointment have fallen into that bracket.
If you're on the fence, Aubameyang has scored on the opening day of the league season in four of the last five years, netting five goals in total.
Meanwhile, no Fulham player has scored on the opening day of a campaign since Matt Smith in 2016, with their goal in a 1-1 draw against Norwich a year later coming courtesy of Canaries defender Russel Martin - and
Fulham manager Scott Parker has no fresh injury concerns as his side kick off their Premier League return by hosting Arsenal on Saturday.
However, new on-loan signing Alphonse Areola could have to wait to make his club debut having only joined from Paris St Germain on Wednesday.
Holland defender Kenny Tete became the club’s latest addition on Thursday, but is unlikely to be included in Parker’s matchday squad immediately.
Arsenal will be without a number of central defensive options for the short trip to west London.
David Luiz (neck) and Sokratis Papastathopoulos (calf) have joined Calum Chambers (knee), Pablo Mari (ankle) and Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring) in the treatment room.
William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes could make their debuts at the back, while fellow new signing Willian is in line to make his bow – although Emile Smith Rowe (shoulder) and Gabriel Martinelli (knee) are also out.
Fulham provisional squad: Rodak, Bryan, Le Marchand, Christie, Odoi, Cairney, Reed, Knockaert, Onomah, Decordova-Reid, Mitrovic, Ramirez, Ream, Robinson, Kebano, Zambo Anguissa, Kamara.
Arsenal provisional squad: Leno, Martinez, Bellerin, Soares, Gabriel, Holding, Saliba, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Tierney, Ceballos, Elneny, Guendouzi, Torreira, Willock, Xhaka, Ozil, Nelson, Pepe, Willian, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah.
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