Manchester United Vs Arsenal: As an improving Manchester United team welcomes the Gunners to the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday afternoon, September 4, a true test of Arsenal’s mettle will begin.
On Thursday night, Erik ten Hag’s team defeated Leicester City by a slim 1-0 margin, while the Gunners extended their winning streak to five games by defeating Aston Villa 2-1.
Match preview
Manchester United and Arsenal will clash at Old Trafford at 16:30, as the Red Devils’ current revival is expected to justifiably continue, while the rest of the footballing world remained enthralled by the twists and turns of the new Premier League campaign.
Man United who have successfully put their disastrous start to the season behind them won their third straight Premier League game thanks to a goal from Jadon Sancho in the 23rd minute. Ten Hag’s team’s defensive prowess on Thursday was a sight for sore eyes for the away supporters.
Man United has moved up to fifth in the table with nine points from the first 15 available after three straight victories over Liverpool, Southampton, and now Leicester. However, with just five goals scored, Man United has the lowest goal total of any side in the top half.
The Red Devils hierarchy continued to work behind the scenes until the 11 p.m. transfer deadline and formally welcomed Antony and Martin Dubravka to Old Trafford in front of the visit of Arsenal.
Manchester United should ignore the fact that they have lost three straight games in the top tier on Sunday, even though Arsenal have been a different animal thus far, as they attempt to score in a Premier League home match for the eighth straight game.
Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz nearly had a whirlwind 24 hours when he scored directly from a corner against Arsenal and then became embroiled in transfer speculation on the final day of the window, but the Gunners were unsuccessful in their attempts to price him away from the West Midlands.
Even though Luiz was able to cancel out Gabriel Jesus’s opening goal on Wednesday night, Gabriel Martinelli was on hand to tuck home the winner 151 seconds later, proving that Mikel Arteta’s summer business has already paid off to the fullest extent in the Premier League so far.
The Gunners could have scored four or five goals in the first half alone, but by sticking to their strategy of scoring right away after conceding, Arteta’s club is still the only one in the Premier League with a perfect record.
As a result, Arsenal is comfortably at the top of the standings, two points ahead of the defending champions Manchester City. However, the Gunners will soon be playing in Europe again when they travel to Zurich for their first Europa League match next week.
Manchester United vs Arsenal: Team News
Following the confirmation of his £85.4 million transfer from Ajax, Antony may be available to Ten Hag for the weekend, and Dubravka should take his position on the bench as he gets ready to back up and challenge David de Gea.
In addition to his namesake Anthony Martial, the hosts are also without Facundo Pellistri and Brandon Williams due to injuries, thus Antony will undoubtedly only be given a few minutes as a replacement.
Full-backs Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka missed the victory over Leicester due to minor complaints as well, and they will need to be evaluated in the coming hours, but Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia shouldn’t be at any risk of losing their positions.
It is a luxury for any manager to have Casemiro and Cristiano Ronaldo available off the bench, but Ten Hag should seriously think about starting the two ex-Real Madrid players, especially after Ronaldo scored both at home and away against the Arsenal previous season.
Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal’s midfield are expected to miss a significant amount of time due to thigh problems, which prompted Arsenal’s fruitless search for a new engine room enforcer on deadline day.
Reiss Nelson, a young attacker, will be out for a while. Arteta will also need to evaluate Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard, who both suffered injuries during the midweek victory against Aston Villa.
Emile Smith Rowe is ready to step in should Odegaard’s ankle issue force him to withdraw from the starting lineup even though Ramsdale managed to play the entire 90 minutes and will presumably be Okay to take over in goal.
Albert Sambi Lokonga could keep his spot in the midfield after a strong performance in the middle of the week, while Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has not yet returned to team training after a knee injury, is expected to miss out again.
Probable Lineup
Manchester United
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen; Sancho, Fernandes, Ronaldo; Rashford
Arsenal
Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Lokonga; Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli; Gabriel Jesus
Prediction
Even though Arsenal has had a fantastic start to the new campaign, injuries to key players could bring a stop to their winning streak in a setting where there is simply no recipe for success.
Man United seems to be settling in under Ten Hag, but a prolonged lack of ruthlessness will limit their potential to maintain their winning streak, and the two goliaths of the game should this weekend play out a draw.
Therefore, we at FUTBALLNEWS believe that the teams will play a 1-1 draw.
