These are the games… – Suburban Gooners

Here we go, boys and girls – matchday eight and the incentive is obvious for all to see: top of the Championship by five points if we win at Fulham.

This obstacle, however, is not easy to overcome. indeed, we failed to do so in our last two attempts and it is this recent history which will give Marcos Silva and Fulham supporters hope of a little surprise today. They scored early last season and managed to block a deep block that we struggled to break. That’s the problem we had last season with a lot of teams and Fulham certainly took advantage of it as they held on for a draw and we fell behind Liverpool on the road to the title.

If this Arsenal team wants to win the title, it can’t happen today. Today, it’s a game where you have to show your credentials by going to a place where you’ve wrestled two years in a row and winning. Just like last weekend against West Ham, like the week before against Newcastle and like the first week at Manchester United. Mikel Arteta needs to prepare his charges for victory and they need to be there from the start as I think Fulham will play with a conservative low block tonight as they have their injury problems which Silva admitted yesterday. Lukic is out for a few weeks – a big blow for them – but they are also missing Muniz up front, Chukwueze on the flanks, Tete, as well as Robinson at left back. It’s positive for us, especially with Robinson, because I’ve always been impressed with him every time he played. This means Sessengnon will likely fill in at left back – probably in a winger role – which will be interesting if he is isolated against Saka or ventures forward and leaves space for our main man. If he does, that’s where we have to look for our success, as Saka was on the scoresheet last week with a penalty and also scored for England last week. It feels like Saka is starting to come into his own and given the ambitions of this Arsenal team, that’s what we need to see all over the pitch.

Arteta has some selection decisions to make elsewhere, however. Firstly, he needs to see who he wants to deploy in midfield and with Zubimendi missing Thursday’s training to rest, I think he will anchor our midfield. Arteta confirmed in his press conference yesterday that it was to manage his load (taking him away from training) and I think that means he intends to put him on the pitch against the Cottagers. But who will play with him in the middle of the park? I suspect he will choose Rice, but I hope that means Merino isn’t favored alongside Dec, because let’s be honest and admit that as a midfield trio he doesn’t quite have the dynamism of the other combinations we have. In this trio, if you go for Zubi and rice, I think you need a Nwaneri and Eze. I think Arteta could go with experience overall and Eze will be asked to play in that good eight role, but if he decides to stick to the original summer plan and give Nwaneri the green light, I’d be OK with that too.

This option also does not mean that Eze will not start. It’s the same with merino. Just because I say I don’t want him in a midfield with Rice and Zubimendi doesn’t mean I’d be unhappy with him getting a starting spot as a central striker, for example. I don’t think it will happen and I think Arteta will go with Big Vik up front, but given Merino’s goalscoring form for Spain and the fact he has already opened his account against Newcastle, you can’t totally rule him out. The same with Eze who, while playing in the center more recently, is an option on the left flank I think. But I think that on the left, it must be either Eze or Trossard. If Fulham want to go with three backs and wing backs, sit in a low block and look to counter us, then we need those lock pickers that I keep raving about. It’s not really Martinelli, I don’t think. So for me, I would have either Ebs or Leo – who have both scored for their respective international teams this week – on the left flank.

The good news is that we have options. We have a selection of different styles that can be deployed and this is going to make it more difficult for Silva to question our approach. Hell, if we watch Arsenal all the time and even We I don’t know who will line up, so I think Fulham and their analysts will have struggled this week too.

I think with the way Silva is playing, we have an opportunity for Gyokeres to get on the scoresheet today, if they play with a four-man defense, of course. Silva has always favored a 4-2-3-1 traditionally and he could do that today, meaning if Fulham want to be true to their normal style, they will split their center halves at certain times when in possession and allow space for turnovers and Gyokeres to run in behind. That’s if they don’t block us, which could also be the state of the game. If we score first it opens the game, but if we repeat last year the Swede might struggle to find spaces.

It’s going to be difficult, Fulham will create chances, but if we have our defensive system suited to their game, you’ll have to love us, especially with their injuries. We just have to translate what I think is great possession into goals.

We’ll all meet tomorrow for a debriefing.