The Gameweek gets underway at Craven Cottage as Martin Jol’s side entertain Arsenal, fresh from sneaking a 1-0 win at Sunderland on the opening day. In contrast, the Gunners arrive licking wounds from their home defeat to Villa but buoyed by a fine victory in their Champions League playoff in midweek. It seems beautifully poised and, with plenty of talent on show, this should be a decent opening to the weekend’s proceedings.
The team news finds Jol hand Scott Parker an immediate debut as Derek Boateng drops to the bench to make way. Elsewhere, David Stockdale replaces the injured Maarten Stekelenburg in goal, while John Arne Riise makes a surprise start ahead of Matthew Briggs at left-back with Kieran Richardson sidelined with a hamstring. Bryan Ruiz is on the bench again, meaning that both Adel Taarabt and budget pick, Pajtim Kasami, keep starting roles.
The visitors are forced into chages of their own. Arsene Wenger is without the suspended Laurent Koscielny so will deploy Bacary Sagna in central defence: Carl Jenkinson comes in at right-back. Elsewhere, Jack Wilshere is rested to the bench, while Alex Oxlade Chamberlain’s knee injury rules him out. Wenger drafts in Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla for starts after they were given bench roles against Villa.
Our Dugout Discussion chatroom is open for this first match and they’ll be a further post prior to the three o’clock kick-offs bringing you the significant team news from those encounters.
