Premier League team news and prediction: Fulham vs Arsenal

The Premier League signals its return with a London derby to kick off the 2020/21 season. Fulham welcome Arsenal to Craven Cottage for Saturday's lunchtime kickoff as the pair look to get the season off on the right foot. For Arsenal, they already have a piece of silverware under their belt having gotten the better of Liverpool in the Community Shield. 

For Fuham, they have a testing start to their return to top-flight duties after securing their Premier League return via a 2-1 playoff victory over west London rivals Brentford a little over a month ago.  

When is kick off? 

Saturday 12th September, 12:30  

Where is the match? 

Craven Cottage, London 

Where can I watch it? 

BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate 

2019/20 Season 

2019/20 was a tumultuous one for Arsenal. Unai Emery was sacked in November while Freddie Ljungberg took over until Mikel Arteta's appointment in December. Since then, Arteta has been slowly getting this Gunners side back on the straight and narrow. Arsenal have picked up 33 points from the 20 matches the Spaniard has overseen and they capped the campaign with their 14th FA Cup to cap an indifferent campaign with silverware. 

Moving from north to west London, Scott Parker was appointed Fulham boss on a permanent basis in May 2019 and the Cottagers hierarchy will have been impressed with their playoff success. While Parker did look a little out of his depth on occasion, Fulham's experience in the playoffs ulitmately shone through and the 39-year-old will hope his second stab at management in the Premier League won't result in relegation. 

Summer Transfers 

For Fulham, they have made the loan moves for Harrison Reed and Anthony Knockaert permanent after the pair played key roles in their promotion. Mario Lemina follows Reed from Southampton to the capital via a season-long loan stint with Galatasaray, while Alphonse Areola has also joined for the campaign and brings top-tier and European experience. Full-backs Kenny Tete and Antonee Robinson have moved to Fulham permanently from Lyon and Wigan, respectively, to improve Parker's full-back options. 

A key piece of news for Arsenal is that captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to pen a new deal for the Gunners having fired the club to FA Cup and Community Shield glory this summer. Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares, who moved to the club on loan in January, have seen their moves made permanent. Willian boosts Arsenal's creative options and arrives from Fulham's rivals Chelsea and Dani Ceballos has made the move back to the Emirates for another season-long loan. At the back, Gabriel is a solid addition to the defence from Lille with William Saliba returning to the club following his loan stint with Saint-Etienne. 

Team News 

Scott Parker is fortunate in that he has no injury concerns for the lunchtime welcome of Arsenal. The Fulham boss is now pondering who to start between the sticks. Marek Rodak made the WhoScored.com Championship team of the season in goal, but the capture of Alphonso Areola complicates matters for Parker. Elsewhere, summer arrivals Kenny Tete and Mario Lemina should be handed starts in defence and midfield, respectively, while the rest of the side picks itself. 

It's the polar opposite for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard has eight centre-backs on the books, but five are ruled out for the trip to Fulham. Indeed, Pablo Mari, Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz, Sokratis and Calum Chambers are sidelined, which should see William Saliba make his league debut, with the game coming too soon for Gabriel after he was forced to self-isolate on the back of his move to England as per government guidelines. Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith-Rowe make up the sidelined stars in the Arsenal ranks. 

Possible XI 

Fulham (433) - Areola; Tete, Ream, Hector, Bryan; Lemina, Reed, Cairney; Knockaert, Mitrovic, Cavaleiro

Arsenal (343) - Leno; Saliba, Holding, Tierney; Bellerin, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka; Willian, Nketiah, Aubameyang

Key Battle - Aleksandar Mitrovic vs Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Each side's respective top goalscorer last season will be vying to not only score the first league goal of the season, but to fire their team to an opening day victory too. Aleksandar Mitrovic will be out to better his return of 11 Premier League goals in 2018/19 and improve his recored against Arsenal. Indeed, the Serb has scored just one goal in five meetings with Arsenal, that coming in a 3-3 draw with the north London side during his time with Anderlecht.

He is yet to score a league goal against the Gunners and has been on the losing side in each of his four top-flight meetings with Arsenal, including 5-1 and 4-1 defeats in 2018/19. Aubameyang will be out to land the Golden Boot once more and there is no better place to start than Craven Cottage. The Gabon international put in a fine cameo showing off the bench in this game back in October 2018 as he scored twice and provided one assist in Arsenal's 5-1 thrashing of the Cottagers.

Prediction: Fulham 0-3 Arsenal