Fulham continue their Premier League journey with the daunting trip to the Emirates Stadium to face an Arsenal side who sit top of the league. But they will have some famous matches to look back on for inspiration.
Fulham’s mission to qualify for the European spots next season sees them heading to the Emirates Stadium to face league leaders Arsenal.
The Gunners have lacked the ruthlessness they showed at times in the early stages of the season and have seen their lead at the top of the Premier League disappear, with Manchester City right in the mix.
They also saw their FA Cup and Carabao Cup runs come to an end, while they are locked into a tight battle with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
Nonetheless, though, with the cold hard truths, Arsenal are stll top of the Premier League and have the best home record of any team in the league.
Conversely, Fulham have struggled away from Craven Cottage this term, winning only four matches from their 17.
They will go in as the underdogs as ever, but they have the advantage of looking back at some famous results that Cottagers teams of old have picked up.
Arsenal 3-3 Fulham, 10 November 2012
It may not have been a win for Fulham but it was a performance that will always be remembered by Cottagers’ fans when it comes to this fixture.
In a game between seventh and eighth in the Premier League table, Arsenal took a 2-0 lead after just 23 minutes through Olivier Giroud and Lukasz Podolski.
Fulham, though, hit back through Dimitar Berbatov and Alex Kacaniklic, and by the 40-minute mark, they found themselves level.
It got even better for Martin Jol’s men, who then took the lead through Berbatov’s 67th-minute penalty.
Unfortunately, Giroud scored his second of the afternoon just two minutes later but it was a reminder of just what the Cottagers could achieve, in a season when they finished ninth.
Fulham 2-1 Arsenal, 2 January 2012
Ten months before that comeback draw at the Emirates Stadium, there was another comeback that was even more dramatic at Craven Cottage.
Arsenal took the lead after 21 minutes through Laurent Koscielny and as the clock headed towards the 90-minute mark, it appeared that was going to be enough to take the three points.
But Fulham equalised when Steve Sidwell scored with five minutes on the clock and then in the dying embers, Bobby Zamora scored a 90th-minute winner to send the Cottagers into pandemonium.
Mikel Arteta was on the pitch that day for Arsenal on a day when Johan Djourou was sent off.
Raul Jimenez scored against Arsenal in the 2-1 win in December 2023. Image Credit: ReutersFulham 2-1 Arsenal, 31 December 2023
Creeping up to 12 years to the day since that famous win at Craven Cottage and Fulham were able to celebrate a comeback win again, this time with Mikel Arteta in the Arsenal dugout.
Bukayo Saka scored after just five minutes to put Arsenal into the lead but the Gunners did not have the lead for too long.
Raul Jimenez scored shortly before the half-hour mark to level the scores, and Bobby Decordova-Reid scored one of his most important goals in the 59th minute.
On this occasion, it was enough to see Fulham claim their first win over Arsenal for over a decade and put an end to their shoddy form.