It’s a New Year’s Day London Derby for Arsenal as they take on Fulham at the Emirates later this afternoon.
Courtesy of OPTA, here are nine match facts and stats that you should know before kick-off:
1. Arsenal have never previously lost at home to Fulham in any competition, winning 23 and drawing five of their 28 home matches against the Cottagers prior to this match.
2. Fulham’s only league victory over Arsenal in their last 12 such encounters was in January 2012 (W1 D4 L7), a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage under Martin Jol.
3. Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri has never won a Premier League match against Arsenal in 10 previous attempts (D4 L6); he has a worse points-per-game ratio against the Gunners (0.40) than he does versus any other opponent in the competition.
4. Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 22 home league matches against newly promoted opposition (W19 D3) since losing 1-0 to Newcastle United in November 2010.
5. In all competitions, Fulham have lost 11 of their last 14 away matches (W1 D2).
6. Ranieri’s last Premier League match on New Year’s Day was also away at Arsenal in 2003, when he was Chelsea manager – a 2-3 defeat.
7. Since losing to Watford in January 2017, Arsenal have won 25 of their 26 home Premier League matches against non-‘big six’ sides, drawing the other against Wolves.
8. Arsenal conceded 14 league goals during December 2018 – their most in a calendar month since April 1979 (15 conceded).
9. Fulham are looking to keep consecutive Premier League clean sheets in the same season for the first time since February 2013.
