Is Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez available to play for Fulham against Arsenal in the Premier League?

Raúl Jiménez has enjoyed something of a revival in the Premier League in recent months. After scoring just 10 goals in 59 league appearances for Wolves following a serious head injury, the Mexico striker also endured a tough start to his spell at Fulham, not finding the net in any of his first 12 games for The Cottagers in all competitions. However, he finally broke his duck against Aston Villa in mid-November, the first of four goals in the space of five matches.

Why did Jiménez miss Fulham’s last three matches?

But just when it looked as if he was back to somewhere near his best, Jiménez was sent off in the 22nd minute of the defeat to Newcastle United on 16 December, with the nature of the offence, a high challenge on opposition player Sean Longstaff, leading to a three-match suspension.

As a result, the 32-year-old has sat out successive Premier League defeats to Bournemouth and Burnley during the festive period, as well as the Carabao Cup penalty-shoot win over Everton. He will, however, return to the fold for the New Year’s Eve game at home to Arsenal, the team against which he suffered that career-threatening skull fracture back in November 2020.

Fulham form nosedives without Mexican

Fulham have badly missed the former América man. Prior to Jiménez’s sending off and subsequent ban, Marco Silva’s men had won three games out of four, including back-to-back 5-0 thrashings of Nottingham Forest and West Ham. They also came agonisingly close to defeating Liverpool at Anfield, conceding two late goals in a 4-3 defeat.

The Mexican was shown a straight red card at St. James’ Park with the score at 0-0, The Cottagers ultimately conceding three second-half goals in a 3-0 loss. In the Premier League, they have let in eight goals without reply without Jiménez, whose return, they hope, will bring about another change of fortune against The Gunners.