Arteta wishes Parker well at Fulham
Mikel Arteta pits his Arsenal side against relegation-threatened Fulham this afternoon, but has wished Scott Parker well as he battles to keep the Cottagers in the Premier League.
Fulham go into this match seven points adrift of safety having lost to a last-gasp goal at home to Wolves previously.
Now they face a London derby against the Gunners, who go into the game on a high after thrashing Slavia Prague on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners when they travelled to Craven Cottage on the opening weekend of the campaign, but have had their own issues with consistency since then.
The two youngest managers in the Premier League do battle again this weekend and Arteta revealed he and Parker know each other well – on and off the pitch – and has been impressed with Fulham this year.
“I played a lot of times against Scotty, we had some battles,” he said. “We have some common friends in the football world so we know each other quite well.
“I’m happy for him and the work he has been doing, and I think they have been unlucky in some games this season that could have put his job in a different perspective. But still, anybody that is around him knows the man and then knows the professional who is behind him and I wish him all the best.”
Arsenal skipper Pierre-emerick Aubameyang will still be missing after contracting malaria during last month’s international break.
Scott Parker said Fulham had been “knocked and punched in the belly” by their last-gasp loss to Wolves and admitted the squad will have to show their quality against Arsenal.
“We’ve shown during this year our quality and we’ve shown we can win matches against very good teams so nothing’s changed in that sense,” Parker said.
“I understand we’re very devastated, we’ve been knocked and punched in the belly, but we move on now and we need to concentrate on that and just keep going.”