Silva admits four Arsenal stars ‘can punish any team’ in Prem; tight-lipped on Arteta’s 60m target
Marco Silva recognised Arsenal’s quality can punish any team in the Premier League before the London rivals meet at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s team will be looking to recover after Thursday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham when they travel to face a Fulham side who have lost three games in a row.
Cottagers manager Silva listed Arsenal’s strengths and called for his players to be defensively resolute if they are to replicate their late 2-2 draw at the Emirates.
“They are a top side, no doubt,” Silva said.
“Their defensive organisation is really good and with their positional attack it means they can perform at the highest level.
“They have the capacity to push a team back really low and it is difficult to press them really high because when they beat the pressure they are a tough team to face.
“(Oleksandr) Zinchenko gives them quality with an extra man in the middle and the likes of (Gabriel) Martinelli, (Bukayo) Saka, (Martin) Odegaard and (Kai) Havertz are a threat and can punish any team in this country.
“We need to be well organised and stick together in certain moments. They are pressing us, putting us under pressure in moments and when we have the ball we have to express ourselves as well.”
Joao Palhinha’s summer transfer to Bayern Munich collapsed on deadline day and the Portugal international is likely to be a hot property for European clubs after an impressive first half of the season and is being linked with a £60m move to Arsenal.
But Silva remained tight-lipped about the future of all of his players, insisting no approach has been made by any club.
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He added: “I haven’t even spoken to the board about it. I can say to you that we have 100 per cent not received anything or any approach for our players.
“We are fully focused on the games during the December period, which is tough for everyone, and we haven’t received any.
“If something is going to arrive then the player will analyse but if I am being honest we are looking to strengthen the squad and not lose our important players.”
Fulham, who lost 3-0 to Bournemouth on December 26, will have had two days longer to prepare than Arsenal, who played on December 28.
Sunday’s match will be both side’s eighth fixture in all competitions this month but Silva does not believe the extra rest will give Fulham an advantage.
He said: “I don’t see it as an advantage because Arsenal have also played seven games this month and so have we.
“We played on the 23rd and 26th and Arsenal played on the 23rd and the 28th so we can’t just look at the next game but also the games before where they had more time to prepare for the game against West Ham.”
