Fulham - Arsenal

A tough tackle from Hector on Xhaka leaves the Arsenal midfielder on the deck.

An offside flag, very late again, denies Arsenal as Lacazette forces a superb save from Rodak.

Pace has really slowed here, with Arsenal content to sit on their lead.

Impact!

First sight of goal for Mitrovic, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area is straight at Leno.

Fulham committing more bodies forward now, but Arsenal remain rigid.

Sign. Him. Up

And what a beautiful trick it is.

Scott Parker looks worried on the bench. Fulham look very brittle indeed.

The floodgates are open. Great pass from Willian, who registers his second assist of the game, into Aubameyang, who takes a touch onto his right before firing into the top corner. Super, super goal.

He really has recovered from that early error.

As close as Fulham have come here, with Kamara flashing the ball wide.

I mean, they are not up against much today, but Arsenal have been excellent at the back.

What sort of reaction are we going to get from Fulham here. They need a way back into this, fast!

Ah.

It was another debutant Willian with the corner, Gabriel found himself six yards out, in a congested penalty area, and he could not miss. Surely no way back for Fulham from here?

Aubameyang on the charge, but Tim Ream comes across to make the tackle.

KICK OFF! We are back under way here. No changes for either side.

Great recovery after a wobbly start.

ICYMI, because I did, Dani Ceballos appeared to rile Eddie Nketiah after going in quite hard on his team-mate as the Gunners warmed up.

HT: Fulham 0-1 Arsenal. Pretty straight forward for Arsenal so far here in this Premier League opener. A scrappy goal from Lacazatte put them in front early on, and they have been rarely troubled by Fulham.

One minute of added time at the end of the first half.

Fulham knock it around in the final third, but eventually Cairney sticks in a deep cross, which is easily cleared by Tierney. Fulham need more numbers in that box...

Arsenal just trying to see the game through to half time now. Fulham still offering little in attack.

They might after this performance.

SAVE! Wonderful pass from Tierney over the top for Aubameyang, who controls and shoots in a flash, but Rodak makes a smart stop low down to his right.

Arsenal again with the possession. Gabriel looks more relaxed on the ball now.

Lacazette gets in behind, he pulls it across for Willian, but the flag, raised very late, rules Lacazette offside. That is the way of the world, now, delayed offsides.

Another super cross from Odoi that avoids everyone. Seems to be Fulham's best outlet.

Better from Fulham now. They are playing with more fluidity and being more patient on the ball.

POST! It is Willian, he goes to the goalkeeper's side, whips it towards the bottom corner, but it comes out off the foot of the post.

Arsenal playing their way out from the back, as is the norm now. Only that one early scare on that front.

Great feet from Elneny, nice lay-off to him from Lacazette, but the shot is blocked.

Fulham's passing has been poor. Harrison Reed with a prime example right there. Awful pass.

Arteta does love to bring back the forgotten men.

Great cross from Odoi, but there is nobody in the middle for Fulham.

Hector Bellerin gets into a good position, but the cross has too much on it.

Loves the curtain-raiser...

Arsenal with all the possession, Fulham are just chasing shows right now.

We missed some handbags at dawn in the warm-up it seems...

That goal really has settled Arsenal, who are now starting to play their football.

The first goal of the new season is not a pretty one. A simple long diagonal catches Fulham out, Pierre-Aubameyang feeds it across, Granit Xhaka's shot is blocked, Willian then stabs for goal, Marek Rodak makes the save in the Fulham goal, but Lacazette is on hand to tap home the rebound.

Denis Odoi cuts inside onto his left foot, but that is easy for Leno to make the save.

Fulham have started quite well, knocking the ball about on halfway nicely, before Joe Bryan's ball down the channel runs out of play.

Arsenal look nervy here. Trying to get on the ball now and relax into this.

MY WORD! Almost catastrophe for Arsenal! Gabriel leaves Ainsley Maitland-Niles' back-pass, Aboubakar Kamara nips in, but Bernd Leno races from his line to smother at the feet of the Fulham striker. Let-off for Arsenal!

KICK OFF! The players take the knee as a show of unity and we are under way here in the sunshine in the capital.

So here we go! The Premier League is back! New-boys Fulham against an Arsenal side with much to prove. Something has to give! Football is not the same, of course, without fans, but at least we have some form of action back in our lives. We are minutes away!

Something for fans missing the matchday experience.

So what of the transfer targets? Emiliano Martinez has been left out of the Arsenal squad for the trip to Fulham ahead of an anticipated move away from the Emirates but Hector Bellerin starts despite rumoured interest from Barcelona. Elsewhere, there is no place in the squad for Mesut Ozil, who was frozen out after the Premier League's post-coronavirus restart. The 31-year-old featured in a recent pre-season fixture against Aston Villa, prompting speculation that he could be reintegrated into the team. But, alas, Ozil remains out of the squad.

We have a go at predicting the Premier League table, in 65 seconds...

It is derby day! Fulham have lost their last 10 top-flight London derbies – losing all 10 in the 2018/19 season – the longest ever run by a club in top-flight history.

That explains why Scott Parker felt compelled to leave out his talisman...

Who will win the Premier League? Who will finish in the top four? Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal will all fancy a crack – but who have our writers backed?

HEAD TO HEAD: Fulham have lost each of their last five Premier League matches against Arsenal, conceding nine goals in their two defeats against the Gunners the last time they were in the top-flight in 2018-19 (1-5 home, 1-4 away). Arsenal have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League matches against Fulham (W8 D4), going down 1-2 at Craven Cottage in January 2012. Arsenal and Fulham have only met on the opening day once previously in the top-flight, with the Gunners coming from behind to beat the Cottagers 2-1 on MD1 in 2007-08.

Mind the scaffolding...

In a new series ahead of the 2020-21 Premier League season, State of Play, we look at each of the top six and where they stand heading into the new campaign. Arsenal are up - the only way is up, right?

DEBUTS FOR GABRIEL AND WILLIAN, MITROVIC ON BENCH: The stand-out team news is that Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian both start for Arsenal with the latter likely to play in a central role behind a front two of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. Five at the back for Arsenal, with Kieran Tierney at full-back. There's no Aleksandar Mitrovic for Fulham up front; he's on the bench with Aboubakar Kamara preferred. New goalkeeper Alphonse Areola is also on the bench having only joined on Wednesday.

TEAM NEWS - FULHAM: Rodak, Ream, Hector, Odoi, Bryan, Onomah, Cairney, Reed, Kebano, Cavaleiro, Kamara... Subs: Areola, Mitrovic, Knockaert, Cordova-Reid, Le Marchand, Christie, Anguissa. /// ARSENAL: Leno, Bellerin, Gabriel, Holding, Tierney, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Xhaka, Willian, Aubameyang, Lacazette... Subs: Macey, Saka, Ceballos, Pepe, Willock, Nketiah, Kolasinac.

The teams are in...

Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Fulham's Premier League clash with Arsenal from Craven Cottage. It's back! The break was a short one, but fear not, the Premier League is back, and what a game to kick the 2020/21 season off. Fulham are back in the big time after a one-year absence, with rookie boss Scott Parker at the helm. Another rookie manager Mikel Arteta is slowly starting to mould Arsenal in his style, but we are about to find out if that work on the training ground translates to results on the pitch!