Marco Silva names ‘advantage’ Arsenal have for Premier League clash with Fulham | Football

Marco Silva has named an ‘advantage’ Arsenal have for the Premier League clash against his Fulham side at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

The Gunners haven’t played since March 16 thanks to the international break and their third-round FA Cup exit to Manchester United in January.

Silva’s Fulham, meanwhile, were in FA Cup quarter-final action on Saturday as they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to fellow top-flight club Crystal Palace.

The Fulham manager is adamant that Arsenal have the upper hand for Tuesday’s showdown given they’ve had longer to prepare for the match.

‘As we expected, they are there [fighting for the title],’ Silva said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Fulham’s trip to Arsenal.

‘Of course, they are not in the top of the table, because Liverpool is doing so well, but they have been there and trying to be as close as they can from the first position on the table.

‘A top side, not just in terms of individual quality – they have a collective quality. And when we were playing less than 48 hours ago, they were not playing, they were preparing the game.

‘They had all the time to prepare the game from the last international break, [and] that is going to be against us. They have this small advantage, plus the home game is always different than you play away from home.

‘We know their quality, we know their intensity, their physicality as well. Probably one of the more physical teams in the league.

‘They like to press really high, they are going to create some problems for us, but we have to be brave enough to play our game, to be brave enough to face them and to match them, because there are three points there to fight for, and they are going to demand many, many things from ourselves.

‘But I really believe that if we are at our best level, we have shown already that we are able to respond really well.’

Fulham boast an impressive recent record against Arsenal, with the west London club unbeaten across their last three meetings with the Gunners.

Their last clash ended in a 1-1 draw, which came at Craven Cottage in December with Raul Jimenez and William Saliba getting on the scoresheet.

‘Many things have to be there [for us to beat Arsenal on Tuesday],’ Silva added.

‘First, we have to be Fulham Football Club, that is the main thing. Our recent record against them has been very good, [which] shows that we have been doing very, very good things against them.

‘It’s not easy when you are already three games without losing against a team like Arsenal, just shows again what we have been doing so far the last few seasons, and how we have been consistent against a side that have been fighting always to be champions in this competition, and we have been able to get good results against them.

‘And again, as I mentioned before, we have to be Fulham Football Club, and that means a lot of things.

‘That means that we are brave, our courage is going to be there, our quality as well, our organisation, and of course we have to be able to match their physicality that is going to be in the game, for sure.’

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