The [league 8]’s season opener saw [team 19] travel to newly-promoted [team 11] in Saturday’s early kick-off (fixture details: [fixture 16924598] ). [coach 307]’s side finished last season in great form by winning the [league 30]. A few days ago, they also won the community shield against [team 8]. Optimism was high coming into a new season and the first full season under Mikel Arteta.
Fulham meanwhile won the [league 9] playoffs and made a top-flight return at the first time of asking. [coach 153] received great appreciation for the job he did. However, the challenge in the Premier League is a different ball game.
Fulham’s match summary
Fulham initially started with their preferred 4-2-3-1. [player 6351] started in goal instead of loan signing [player 95393]. The back four saw [player 2945] and [player 3160] at left-back and right-back, respectively. [player 3384] and [player 2454] started as the center-backs. [player 1409] and skipper [player 2285] started in holding midfield with [player 1708] in the hole. [player 7055] and [player 6853] provided the width with [player 63093] leading the line on his own.
Fulham’s defensive performances was terrible. Not only the back four but robustness in the midfield didn’t exist. The ball movement was good by Cairney and Reed, but out of possession, they looked all over the place. They recorded only five shots throughout the game, with only two of them on target. Scott Parker has a lot of work to do in their bid to avoid the drop.
Arsenal’s match summary
Arsenal started with a back three of debutant [player 97811], [player 172960], and [player 1901]. Their midfield four had [player 1887] and [player 1891] in the middle with [player 1899] and [player 4344] deployed in the wing-back positions. The front three saw an exciting trio of talisman [player 31739] from the left channel, [player 95334] down the middle, and debutant [player 1317] initially from the right.
The ball movement went through Xhaka, who played well. In total, Arsenal took 13 shots, out of which 6 were on target. The Gunners created an impressive three big chances in their first game of the season. Lacazette scored the opener, later, in the second half, a debut goal for Gabriel. Skipper Aubameyang scored the third with an impressive top corner finish.
New signing Willian’s role was eyecatching. The Brazilian initially started on the right but had the freedom to move centrally in between the lines. He effectively played behind Lacazette and Aubameyang and found some incisive passes from deep. His cohesion with wing back Bellerin looked positive. Overall, excellent performance as the Brazilian ended up recording assists for all three goals.
Another debutant who caught the eye was youngster Gabriel. He played at the heart of the back three and showed great composure in pressure situations. In possession, Gabriel looked calm and controlled and played impressive vertical passes. He also scored from a corner in the 50′ minute. Overall, an excellent performance by Arsenal to start the 2020/21 season.
