Fulhamvs.Arsenal

Neither Gabriel nor Calafiori featured against Manchester United on Wednesday night, with the pair absent due to issues which were suffered during last weekend's 5-2 success over West Ham United.

There had been concerns over a potential head injury for Gabriel, which could have meant a relatively lengthy period on the sidelines, but Arteta has said that a separate issue forced the Brazilian off at the interval against the Hammers.

Calafiori, meanwhile, had to be replaced in the early stages of the second period at the London Stadium, but the Italian is also in line to return to the matchday squad against Fulham.

"Gabi was a big risk to play today because he felt something against West Ham. Sunday is going to be a possibility with Riccardo as well, let's see how he reacts," Arteta told reporters after the clash with Man United.

Gabriel, Calafiori in line to make Arsenal returns vs. Fulham

Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko came in for starts against Man United, but it was two other defenders - Jurrien Timber and William Saliba - that scored the goals to hand the Gunners a 2-0 success over the Red Devils.

The result moved Arsenal onto 28 points from 14 matches, which has left them in third spot in the Premier League table, level on points with second-placed Chelsea and seven from Liverpool at the summit.

"Very happy. It's a very special night, celebrating 100 games in this incredible stadium against an opponent with so much history between the clubs and the teams," Arteta added on Wednesday night.

"The way we played, especially after tweaking a few things for the second half and how dominant we were, how convincing we were, not really conceding apart from the save from David [Raya] after a very sloppy throw-in, so a lot of positives.

"We don't think at half-time where we are. I think we have to look at our own business, try to perform as we are at the moment and find ways to win the game. I think the team deserves a win again today which is very good and what the opposition does we cannot control that. You can see week in, week out even if teams are winning how difficult it is for everyone."

Arsenal scored twice more from corners against Man United

Arsenal were again a major threat from set pieces against Man United, with both of their goals coming from corners, and Arteta has said that he wants his side to be "very effective from every angle".

"We need that. I think we want to be very dangerous and very effective from every angle and every face of play. We worked on all of that. Today we couldn't score from open play like we did against West Ham, against Sporting [Lisbon], so the team really has belief that from every angle we have the mentality to threaten the opponent and to try to score. Today was two set pieces, we constantly have threatening corners," he added.

"We play with inverted wingers so they develop a lot as well a lot of times inside. There's not a lot of space inside, so when they leave there's a lot of space for the full-back, and for the six and for the nine and now you can go outside, so we need to look at every angle: what they [opponents] do, where they can be weak, and where we can exploit the weakness of the opposition.

"I think last year we scored the most goals in the history of this football club, not because only the set-pieces but because a lot of things that we have. We want to create individual moments, magic moments, a lot of players can create their own goals.

"We can create goals on short counters, long counters, against slow build-ups, when we have to have restarts and the opportunity to open the opposition. Every single phase of play, just maximise it and keep working on it, keep improving."

Arsenal will follow the trip to Fulham with three home games, welcoming Monaco in the Champions League on December 11 before hosting Everton and Crystal Palace in the Premier League in quick succession.

Written by

Matt Law