Arsenal make the short trip across the capital this weekend to take Fulham as they look to keep pace with Liverpool a the top of the Premier League.
Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United saw the Gunners move to within seven points of the summit with Liverpool dropping points away to Newcastle United.
Mikel Arteta was without both Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori midweek with Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko replacing them.
The absences of their two towering defends was not felt with Arsenal keeping a clean sheet and Jurrien Timber and William Saliba stepping in to punish United on some more set piece magic.
Speaking after the game, Arteta confirmed neither player was dealing with a serious injury, hopeful both will be available for the game at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain unavailable but the rest of the Gunners squad is in good shape as the busy festive period begins to kick into gear.
Thomas Partey and Mikel Merino missed last weekend’s victory over West Ham with the Ghana international playing the full 90 minutes against United. Merino meanwhile came onto replace Zinchenko for the final 20 minutes.
Arsenal will watch on as Liverpool head to Goodison Park to take on Everton in the Merseyside derby in Saturday’s early kick-off.
A defeat for Arne Slot’s side would give the Gunners the chance to close the gap at the top to just four points.
Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Fulham vs Arsenal kicks off at 2pm on Sunday 8 December.
The match will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Subscribers can also live stream the match on Sky Go and NOW TV.
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