Fulham manager Marco Silva has claimed that Arsenal will have an “advantage” for Tuesday’s Premier League meeting at the Emirates Stadium.
The Cottagers will be looking for a positive response after their FA Cup dreams were shattered in Saturday’s semi-final loss against Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage.
Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Eddie Nketiah all got on the scoresheet to condemn Fulham to a 3-0 defeat, ending their hopes of winning the FA Cup for the first time since 1974-75.
Fulham are now focusing on their quest to secure European qualification, with the Cottagers sitting in eighth place in the Premier League table after collecting 45 points from 29 matches.
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Arsenal have “advantage” for Premier League clash
Fulham have enjoyed success on their travels in recent times, having won three of their previous four Premier League away games.
While that recent record may give them confidence, Silva believes that Arsenal may have the slight upper hand because they have not played since beating Chelsea before the international break.
“They don’t just have individual quality but also collective quality,” Silva told reporters in Monday’s pre-match press conference.
“They didn’t play 48 hours ago and have had all the time to operate. They have this small advantage and play a home game which is different.
“We know their quality and their physicality too, they will press high and cause problems for us, we need to be brave and to play our game.”
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Who will miss the meeting with Arsenal?
The Fulham manager also confirmed that he has no fresh injury worries ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Mikel Arteta‘s side.
“Right now there is nothing serious – some knocks and tiredness from the game, which is normal,” Silva said.
However, he remains without the services of Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson, who would have been ineligible to face his parent club if he were fit to feature.
Nelson is set to miss the remainder of the season after he revealed in February that he had undergone surgery following an injury setback.
Meanwhile, defender Kenny Tete and winger Harry Wilson remain sidelined with knee and foot injuries respectively.
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