In Focus: New lease of life for Leno with high-flying Fulham

Bernd Leno has been enjoying a season to savour at Craven Cottage.

Fulham sit eighth in the Premier League and their goalkeeper can take plenty of credit for the West Londoners' sensational first campaign back in the top flight.

The German has posted some remarkable numbers this term, consistently bailing his team out with a string of outstanding performances.

As he prepares to face former club Arsenal, we assess Leno's contribution to the cause for Marco Silva's men.

A point to prove

Today's fixture holds particular significance for Leno, who joined Fulham from Arsenal last summer.

The 31-year-old lost his place to Aaron Ramsdale at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign and was unable to regain it, eventually moving across the capital in search of more regular game time.

He has found that at Craven Cottage, playing every minute of every Premier League fixture since his debut against Brentford in August.

Having lost 2-1 to Arsenal on Matchday 4, the experienced custodian will be keen to remind the Gunners of his quality this time around.

No hard feelings

It would be remiss to suggest that Leno is bitter about his departure from Arsenal, however.

In fact, the keeper has even backed his former employers to win the Premier League this season.

Speaking earlier this week, he said: "I don't have toxic [feelings] or bad energy for Arsenal.

"It didn't end in the perfect way, but my reception at the Emirates was really good. I get fans coming up to me saying, 'Thank you for your four years, you were very good'.

"I was really happy with my performances. Even when they dropped me, I did nothing wrong. I came through the front door and I left through the front door. I still have a connection to the club.

"I hope [Arsenal win the league], I think they can."

Top talent

Fulham boss Silva is also happy with how Leno's switch across the English capital has worked out.

So far this season, the Cottagers keeper has kept seven clean sheets in the league and made 96 saves, all while making no errors directly leading to a goal.

The Portuguese coach, 45, said of his man between the sticks: "I don’t have doubts he’s one of the three best goalkeepers in the country, in this competition.

"We have to be really pleased to have him with us and our fans have to be pleased to have a goalkeeper like him in our football club.

"We knew his quality because we were really patient. He was our first and only target for that position."

Shot-stopping

One of Leno's key attributes is his shot-stopping.

While Arsenal fans may remember the occasional blunder in his final season as a regular starter, the former Bayer Leverkusen star largely performed to a very high level with the Gunners.

And he has picked up where he left off with Fulham.

In fact, ahead of this gameweek, no keeper had made more saves from shots taken inside the box than his 71, while only David Raya had made more saves overall than his 96.

Without Leno, Fulham would certainly be much lower down the table.

Sweeping

Modern goalkeepers are often asked to protect the space behind their defensive line and the demands placed on Leno by Silva are no different.

He has performed admirably in this regard as well, ranking in the top five Premier League custodians for keeper sweeper regains (14) ahead of Matchday 27.

This is another area where the Cottagers stopper appears to have progressed since his Arsenal days, having been sent off against Wolves in February 2021 for a handball outside of the box, after charging out of his area to deal with a ball in behind.

Leno remains a quality keeper and has perhaps even improved since his time at the Emirates. For Fulham to secure a result this afternoon, their No17 may have to produce another masterclass against his old club.