Arsenal 2-1 Fulham: The Debrief

Arsenal take all three points in their return to play but it might have come at a major cost

The last international break of the season leaves me with some mixed emotions. It often comes right after a flurry of matches so having a change of pace can be nice. It also is the natural separation between the season and the run in where you just want to get back into things and dive straight into the high leverage stretch of the schedule.

After this season, I felt much more that the change of pace is what was needed and a break for everyone to clear their head and recharge.

By the time Saturday rolled around and Arsenal didn’t have a match, I was back feeling the itch and ready for the return. By Monday, the nerves had returned, even though this match didn’t exactly have a ton at stake for Arsenal.

All in all, I was glad to have the break because I think it gave me the needed breathing time to not feel over staturated with Arsenal and ready to see the rest of the season unfold. It is even better that Arsenal started it with a win against a team that has been a thorn in their side the last couple of years and got some positive momentum in what will be a pivotal stretch of the season.

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham: The Graphics

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham: The Debrief

17 - Shots for Arsenal in this match, this is tied for 7th most in the Premier League this season for Arsenal.

2.1 - Expected goals for Arsenal in this match, this is tied for 5th most in the Premier League this season.

0.53 - Expected goals in the first half

1.57 - Expected goals in the second half

I think we can all generally agree that this wasn’t a match that proved Arsenal are fixed from their attacking woes but it does perhaps have some green shoots to examine here.

Fulham came into this match a stingy defense and they were set up with a back 5 with 4 in front, intent to frustrate Arsenal. They accomplished that pretty well in the first half with Arsenal having more of the ball but facing a set defense that made it hard to penetrate for them.

The first goal, like it usually is, proved decisive for how the rest of the match would play out and forced Fulham to come out of their shell more and seemed to give Arsenal confidence knowing that they had already broken the seal not seeing a big ZERO on the video boards around the ground. The second half showed flashes of more fluidity and freedom from the team, giving hope that this period of turgid attacking form might be easing.

Arsenal created most of their threat on the wings, but that is not overly surprising as Fulham had overloaded the central locations. It is interesting that even with 9 outfield players behind the ball in this match they didn’t take advantage of that spare man to double up wide, favoring to keep the overload central.

This allowed the wide players, especially Gabriel Martinelli, the freedom to hurt them.

Gabriel and Timber go down, turning the defensive strength into a question mark

4 - Shots for Fulham through 75 minutes (0.17 xG)

5 - Shots for Fulham in the final 15 minutes of this match (1.04 xG)

This is a season that to a certain extent just feels cursed for Arsenal. Just as it is looking like things are starting to get a bit better on the injury front a new rash of injuries breaks out. First it was Riccardo Calafiori on international duty, then Ben White who has already missed time due to a knee injury had a flare up, then it was Gabriel who looks to have injured his hamstring in this match, and then the cherry on top was Jurien Timber also going out with what is reported as a knee injury.

That is on top of Takehiro Tomiyasu already being lost for the season for Arsenal.

We don’t know the extent of some of these injuries and it is dangerous to speculate but I think we can say that a hamstring that takes Gabriel out of a match is a minimum 3-4 week type injury, ruling him out for the Real Madrid matchup. I am optimistic that Timber’s isn’t that bad and he could bounce back, but you never know. White’s injury is reported to have just been a niggle so it could have him back soon as well.

It is just a real gut punch to have 4 defenders drop out in the space of 10 days.

This will be a real test of Arsenal’s depth in the position and it will present some challenges for Arteta on what he can do here.

Martinelli is the Man of the Match

30 - Pass Attempts with a 66.7% Pass Completion and 99.5% Pass Efficiency

2 - Progressive Passes

5 - Deep Completions (not from Crosses), led all players

4 - Open Play Key Passes for 1.18 xA and 1 assist, led all players

3 - Shots for 0.26 xG, led all players

2 - Dribbles Completed of 3 attempted, led all players (tied)

19 - Progressive Carries

1 - Carry into Final Third

7 - Carry into the box, led all players

11 - Final Third Entry Pass Received, led all players

12 - Touches in the box, led all players

18 - Deep Touches, led all players

1 - Time Dispossessed

0.38 - Goal Probability Added

5.73 - Fields Gained

Saka is BACK

100 - Days out injured for Bukayo Saka, he had been out since 2024-12-21 against Crystal Palace.

1 - Goal on his return, it ended up being a cruical goal in Arsenal winning all three points here as well.

60,256 - Fans that gave him a very well deserved welcome back when he was annouced to

Infinity - The amount of good vibes that he brought back in this match