By arlington 
Okay, so yesterday I got this itch to guess how Arsenal vs Fulham might turn out this weekend. Figured why not dig into their old numbers? Grabbed my laptop around coffee time and started poking around.
Scraping the Messy Bits Together
First thing, needed actual past match stats. Searched for “Arsenal Fulham head to head results” and “Premier League match stats” everywhere. Found some fan sites dumping plain tables – goals, shots, possession, that stuff. Copy-pasted like a madman into a new spreadsheet. Took forever ’cause the formatting was all over the shop – had to manually fix dates written as “11/05” meaning May or November? Bloody confusing.
Almost quit here when I realized some 2018 data listed Emirates Stadium as “Ashburton Grove”. Who calls it that? Had to correct each one manually. Spilled cold coffee on my notes. Classic.
Playing Detective with Numbers
Made three main columns after cleaning up the mess:
- Arsenal home stats: How many goals they scored at Emirates against Fulham
- Fulham away stats: Their goals at Arsenal’s turf
- H2H trends: Who won last five meetings? Did draws happen often?
Noticed Fulham got crushed 5-1 last time they visited. But also spotted they held Arsenal to 2-2 three seasons back when Arsenal bottled late goals.
Patterns or Wishful Thinking?
Ran simple averages on goals:
- Arsenal home goals vs Fulham: 2.8 average
- Fulham away goals at Arsenal: 1.2 average
Then checked current form – Arsenal won four straight, Fulham lost two away games back-to-back. Stats screamed Arsenal blowout… but wait. Remembered Arsenal often play down to weaker teams at home.
Reality Check Time
Stared at my pretty spreadsheet. Numbers said Arsenal 3-1 win. Gut felt tense 2-2 draw possibility ’cause Fulham fight hard in London derbies. Called my mate Dave who actually watches Fulham week in/out. He laughed: “Your stats don’t show we signed João Palhinha since last match! Dude breaks up plays like a brick wall.” Stats didn’t account for new signings or random Premier League chaos. Felt dumb.
Shut the laptop around midnight. Final take? Arsenal likely win but Fulham steal a goal to make it nervy. Probably 2-1. Honestly? Wasted three hours proving what we already know – football makes stats look stupid every single week. Might as well flip a coin!