Whenever Manchester United have faced Arsenal it has been an exciting encounter over the years. Jose Mourinho’s side visit the Emirates Stadium this weekend in an attempt to find a way to slide into the top four. It will be an important game for either side as the outcome of this game could decide the qualifications for the Champions League.
United are currently placed in the fifth position with 65 points and a win would take them to 68, closer to Manchester City who ripped Crystal Palace apart on Saturday. Arsene Wenger will be under a lot of pressure as their defeat at the hands of their North London rival Tottenham Hotspur has already fuelled the speculation that they are going to finish outside of the top four for the first time in 20 years.
Mourinho would take this match as any other game as he already stated that he is going to rest a number of players owing to their tight fixture schedule. If United do win this game it will be their 26th match unbeaten in the Premier League a feat which was achieved by Nottingham Forrest back in 1977/78 season.
Team News And Predicted Lineups
Arsenal
Shkodran Mustafi could return for this match but despite their loss against Spurs, Arsene Wenger is expected to go ahead with his preferred three-man backline against United. Granit Xhaka is carrying a knock and Mohamed Elneny is the obvious choice to replace him. Lucas Perez is also facing a late fitness test ahead of this game.
Expected lineup:
Cech; Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elneny, Ramsey, Gibbs; Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud
Manchester United
Injuries have been an inevitable part of Manchester United squad and with Luke Shaw now injured Jose Mourinho has four players on the long-term injury list. But Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Juan Mata are all available for this crunch game.
Expected lineup:
De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Darmian; Carrick, Herrera, Pogba; Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Martial
Key Players
Manchester United
Marcus Rashford
Arsene Wenger has never defeated Jose Mourinho in the Premier League and to keep this record intact Mourinho would definitely need the assistance of Marcus Rashford. The young forward incidentally scored two goals against Arsenal on his Premier League debut and would be hoping to emulate a similar kind of performance this weekend.
Arsenal
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean has been the player of the season for the Gunners. Sanchez was the only player in the last match who showed any kind of fight. Arsenal’s season has already been dragged to the dark and another defeat would end their slimmest hope of finishing in the top four.
Odds
Arsenal: 19/20
Draw: 27/10
Manchester United: 16/5
