Arsenal bid farewell to Arsene Wenger in 2018 after 22 years at the club. The Gunners new manager Unai Emery made a decent start despite defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea in his opening two league games. Arsenal then went on a 22 game unbeaten run but that came to an end away to Southampton on the December 16th. Since then a bit of reality has set in for Emery and Arsenal, especially at Anfield on Saturday.
Arsenal’s defence was ripped apart by Liverpool, something that must be a concern to Emery and Arsenal supporters. However now is not the time to panic because it was always going to take time to move on from the Wenger era and build a new team with a new identity. Fulham visit the Emirates on New Year’s Day knowing only a win will be enough to see them climb out of the relegation zone.
Claudio Ranieri’s side have kept two clean sheets in their last three league games so the signs are encouraging for the club with the worst defence in the Premier League this season. The Italian has had to change the approach that saw Fulham win promotion from the Championship last season. However one thing that hasn’t changed is the reliance on the goals of Aleksandar Mitrovic and the Serbian proved to be the match winner against Huddersfield on Saturday.
Arsenal and Fulham will be our first commentary game of 2019 on Today FM in a New Year’s Day special. Ian Beach and Gary Breen will be at the Emirates for us and Mark Lawrenson will join us as always to preview the week’s action, including Thursday’s meeting of Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Premier League Live with Sky Sports on Today FM from 2-6pm on New Year’s Day.
