Mikel Arteta confirmed Bukayo Saka could return for Arsenal against Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday, having been out of action since December.

The England international has made 24 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal this term but has not featured since their win over Crystal Palace on December 21.

Should he feature, he will be looking to help the Gunners extend their three-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League, while they also have the opportunity to close the gap between them and leaders Liverpool to nine points, with the Reds not playing until Wednesday. 

"Bukayo Saka is ready to go," Arteta said in his press conference.

"All the careful things are already done. Now it's about putting him in the grass at the right moment. But he's pushing because he really wants to.

"We have respected the timeline, and we have done everything. He is ready to go."

Saka has scored five goals and provided 10 assists in the Premier League, with only Mohamed Salah (17) setting up more goals this term (Antonee Robinson and Mikkel Damsgaard also 10).

"Bukayo is a massive weapon that we have," he added.

"We know the impact he has in the team and how important his role and contribution is to our success. It's great to have him back again."

Fulham, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from their FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

In the Premier League, they are in the fight for a European place, sitting in eighth, and are looking to register back-to-back wins over the North London clubs, having beaten Tottenham before the international break.

Fulham are on a three-game unbeaten streak against Arsenal, and Marco Silva is confident they can extend that run on Tuesday.

"Our recent record against them has been very good, shows that we have been doing very, very good things against them," Silva said.

"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.

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

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Arsenal – Mikel Merino

Of Mikel Merino's six Premier League goals (five for Arsenal, one for Newcastle United), five have given his side the lead in a match.

He has also scored the winning goal in four of the five Premier League games in which he has scored at least once, the only exception being Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Liverpool in October this season.

Fulham – Antonee Robinson

No player has made more interceptions in the Premier League this season than Robinson (50, level with Ryan Gravenberch).

The left-back has also made a league-high 344 off-the-ball runs into the final third in 2024-25.

MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal have never lost in 31 home league games against Fulham, winning 24 and drawing seven. It is the most home games one side has played against another without ever losing in English Football League history.

The Gunners have a good record in recent derbies as well. This season, they have earned 20 points in such games in the Premier League, more than any other side.

Fulham, meanwhile, have won four league London derbies this term; only in 1931-32, 1947-48, and 2000-01 (all five) have they won more in a single campaign in their Football League history.

Fulham are unbeaten in their last three league games against Arsenal (W1 D2), only once having a longer such run without defeat against the Gunners (four between May 2011 and November 2012).

Arsenal have won all seven of their Premier League games on April 1 by an aggregate score of 25-3. No team has a better 100% win record on a specific date in the competition's history (Chelsea also 7/7 on December 3).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Arsenal – 64.1%

Draw – 20.7%

Fulham – 15.2%