Arsenal vs. Fulham Betting Tips: Two data driven plays for Saturday's late kick-off

Premier League leaders Arsenal take on London rivals Fulham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening, live on Sky Sports.

Arteta will be delighted with his side's start to the Premier League season, a complete contrast to last year where they lost all of their opening three games. Sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League after taking a maximum nine points across all three of their games so far, scoring nine and conceding just two goals, just three games in they are the only side in the Premier League to keep a 100% record intact.  

Arsenal look set to put out an identical team yet again, with no reason for anybody to lose their place in the starting XI. Jesus didn’t get on the scoresheet in the 3-0 domination of Bournemouth but will have his sights set on hitting the back of the net on Saturday facing another newly promoted side. 

Marco Silva's Fulham have started the season incredibly, managing to take a point in the opener against Liverpool followed by a point against Wolverhampton Wanderers and most recently taking all three points in a 3-2 victory over Brentford. 

7th place Fulham will be full of optimism heading into Saturday's game, managing to hold firm against Liverpool will give them huge confidence that they can frustrate teams when defending a lead but also punish them at the other end with the likes of Mitrovic throwing his weight around. The Serbian has now scored three goals in three games, already equalling his total for the 20/21 season where he managed just three goals in twenty-seven appearances. Now creeping into his late twenties, he has a point to prove in the top flight and has certainly started the season all guns blazing. 

Delving back into the pass lines for this Saturday evening kick off with a line I think is quite generous. Watching Arsenal this season, Xhaka has been taking up some interesting positions, getting himself forward much more when possible.

This more attacking approach has seen a reduction in his pass numbers, yet to clear this line hitting 55, 43 and 47 against Bournemouth, Leicester and Crystal Palace. Given the way the match went against Bournemouth, total domination from the first minute, to see him still only rack up 55 passes is very appealing when taking the unders here against Fulham who have been giving opposition central midfielders much less time on the ball. In their last two matches against Wolves and Brentford, Fulham restricted Norgaard and Neves to just 40 and 54 passes, both of which they failed to go behind in. If Arsenal take the lead as expected, I'd fancy Xhaka to come up short for the fourth consecutive match.

Sticking with the pass market here, I am siding with the high pass line for the Fulham centre back. This is a line he is yet to hit in the Premier League, but they are also yet to fall behind in a match which often can see a large increase in passes at the back.

An average of 74.7 passes per game last season in the Championship and an average of 57.7 in the Premier League the season before, this looks like a nice longshot against a side like Arsenal who don’t press too high for the ball. This season has seen both Johnny Evans (Leicester) and both Palace centre backs clear this line comfortably, with even Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth) running this pass line close (52) despite sheer Arsenal dominance.