Arsenal can’t dwell on their defeat to Liverpool for too long, as they have a game against Fulham at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to kick off 2019.

Chelsea pulled further ahead after Arsenal dropped points at Liverpool, though Tottenham Hotspur wasted their opportunity to do the same. Nonetheless, they’re still seven points ahead of the Gunners, so Unai Emery’s side really needs to start putting some wins together now.

Up against them are relegation-battlers Fulham, who Arsenal beat 5-1 back in October. Since then Claudio Ranieri has taken over as manager, and most recently he’s won them five points from their last three games, so they’re on a much better run of form.

With an FA Cup game against lower league opposition at the weekend, there’s no reason for Emery not to go full strength for this one. Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Despite conceding five goals at the weekend, you couldn’t really blame Bernd Leno for any of them, so he’ll presumably keep his place in the side.

Ahead of him, we expect Unai Emery to stick with a back four, considering that’s how Arsenal have started most of their games recently. However, there will likely be a couple of changes from the side that started against Liverpool.

Firstly, Stephan Lichtsteiner didn’t have a good game at Anfield, whilst Ainsley Maitland-Niles was one of few Arsenal stars who did. With Hector Bellerin still out and Lichtsteiner playing 180 minutes in the last week, it makes more sense for Maitland-Niles to start at right-back.

In the centre-back positions, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny should start. Shkodran Mustafi is only just back from injury and didn’t have a good half at Anfield. Sokratis and Koscielny weren’t much more impressive, but there aren’t many alternative options right now.

At left-back, Sead Kolasinac is the only player available until Nacho Monreal’s return. That’s likely why Emery chose to substitute him off for Matteo Guendouzi in the dying minutes on Saturday, so he’ll be ready for Fulham.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Midfield

Lucas Torreira had a rare off-day at Anfield, making a couple of mistakes as Liverpool came from behind to lead in a matter of minutes in the early stages on Saturday. Hopefully, he can bounce back in this game, and it seems almost certain he’ll start regardless of his weekend performance.

Granit Xhaka wasn’t as bad as some others against Liverpool, and when he’s available he almost always starts in the league. The Fulham match should be no exception, so it’s just about who the third man in midfield is.

Matteo Guendouzi has been preferred for the most part recently. He certainly seems to be ahead of Mohamed Elneny, who only started his first league game of the season on the 22nd December to give Torreira a break. The Egyptian midfielder then returned to the bench for Brighton and Liverpool.

Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil are both more likely to feature in the front three if they’re part of the starting lineup at all. Joe Willock made the bench against Liverpool, but he’s more likely to get a game against Blackpool at the weekend.

Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Forwards

Against Burnley, Lacazette set up Aubameyang to score. Then, against Brighton, Lacazette set up Aubameyang to score. After that, Emery dropped Lacazette against Liverpool, and Aubameyang failed to score.

It’s clear the duo are working well together, and even in his brief cameo at Anfield Lacazette was denied a clear penalty by Michael Oliver. With the pair both scoring two goals against Fulham earlier in the season, it makes sense to start them together on Tuesday.

Assuming the duo start as a strike partnership, that leaves one spot in behind them for a number 10. Mesut Özil took up the position against Burnley and Brighton, but he hasn’t played since his half-time substitution in the latter match. Whether he’ll recover from his knee injury in time remains to be seen.

As a result, we expect Aaron Ramsey to keep his place in the team.

Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI

Full Predicted Starting XI