It’s one of the most eagerly anticipated meeting between Manchester United and Arsenal for the past five years. With previous meetings bringing plenty of goals, plenty of cards and plenty of controversy, aside from that, what can we expect from the two managers?
Injuries always play a huge role in the big games and United suffered badly when they travelled to Fulham. Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans and Tom Cleverley all came off at half time due to injury while Patrice Evra carried on bearing a knock to his ankle. Rafael is a huge doubt and in my opinion he is the man who changes the outcome of United’s games.
Antonio Valencia has disappointed United fans since his debut season with the reds attracting wide attention from across the globe as he was regarded as the Premier League’s best winger. He now lacks in the confidence to go past players, the good enough cross and a left foot of any ability. With Rafael behind him as full-back, United have a brilliant right flank. Valencia dropping back to give Rafael a hand in defence. Meanwhile, Rafael does his part in attacking relentlessly, providing cross after cross onto van Persie or Rooney’s head.
Without Rafael, United have two options at right back. Those two options are Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Both Englishmen decrease United’s attributes so much that David Moyes has to play a different style of play to suit them. Phil Jones is the strong, traditionally English, rock at the back and playing on the right isn’t his favoured position, neither his best. He is one of the best young defenders around but aside from that, attacking wise, he lacks in quality. His crosses are wayward and he has a poor shot quality, he cannot run past players with ease like Rafael can and this means United’s attack is given much less support. Similarly with Chris Smalling, we have a brilliant defender but a player with poor attacking quality. We’re likely to see Chris Smalling start as right-back as Jones is set to feature elsewhere.
With Rafael not starting, we can expect to see an attacking central line-up from United as they try to cover the hole left by Rafael in attack. In midfield, United have Tom Cleverley being tested. Cleverley has yet to fulfil his potential yet after an unbelievable start to his first season at United but has been consistent in his play and is finally being recognised as one of United’s key players. He was taken off at half time against Fulham due to double vision but had a great first 45 minutes as he linked well with Jones, Januzaj, Rooney and van Persie to score 3 goals in the space of 15 minutes.
Expecting Cleverley to be out injured who will feature instead of him? Jones showed once again his midfield prowess against Fulham as he slotted nicely beside Cleverley. With United having to find ways to balance counter attacking Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey as well as defending them, Jones will be the perfect man alongside Michael Carrick. Carrick’s creativity with Jones hard-working defending will fit like a puzzle against Arsenal’s attacking three. Aside from those two, Moyes has other options. He could slide Fellaini with Carrick and he looks for muscle against the slightly more fragile Arsenal front men. However, with Fellaini getting sent off against Sociedad during mid-week, Moyes needs to show him where he stands and make sure he doesn’t get away for it. So for me, the midfield two to combat Arsenal has to be Phil Jones and Michael Carrick.
Behind them along with Chris Smalling and of course the ever green Patrice Evra (who is set to be fit for Sunday) are many options. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have been injury free so far this season and have performed brilliantly, not only alongside each other, but alongside Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. However, as age catches up on them, we’re likely to only see one feature following the pair starting United’s mid-week Champions League game against Real Sociedad. The likelihood is that Nemanja Vidic, a rock at the back when he has played this season, will start alongside Jonny Evans. With the younger pairing of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones not available as they play in other positions Moyes has three options; Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans or Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. With Nemanja Vidic’s leadership qualities always bringing a massive boost when it comes to big rivalries, it’s a no brainer for Moyes to put him in the starting line-up. Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand are the two other options. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand used to be the best defensive partnership in the world but as they’ve got older, their pace has faded away and coming up against a fast paced Arsenal side with Ferdinand and Vidic would hamper United’s chances at three points. So, the alternative? The more agile, Jonny Evans. With him and Vidic starting at the back you have the brave captain in Vidic and the ball-playing, Jonny Evans who will always give you the same on the pitch. He has been one of the most consistent players over the last season.
On the wings, we are likely to see Antonio Valencia and Adnan Januzaj after the two have featured in 3 of the last 4 games together. Januzaj, Rooney, van Persie and Valencia have striked up an excellent quartet and have looked a real threat so far. Arsenal will need to defend as well as they did against Dortmund in mid-week if they are going to have any chance on Sunday.
Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney aren’t worth discussing. The two are sure to start, I presume Rooney will start behind van Persie as United look to give van Persie more service than normal with Arsenal aiming to close them down quickly.
Final line-up:
De Gea;
Smalling, Evans, Vidic (C), Evra;
Valencia, Jones, Carrick, Januzaj;
Rooney;
Van Persie.
Arsenal
The Gooners have had a fantastic start to the season. 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. They lie top of the table and Wenger’s line-up has been pretty consistent so far.
Arsenal have been extremely lucky with injuries so far and go into Sunday’s clash with no prominent set-backs.
In front of Szczesny in goal should be Kieran Gibbs, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. The four have started 4 the last 5 games and have performed to the best of their ability. Away at Borussia Dortmund they grabbed a 1-0 win as the four didn’t let Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan make their mark on the game. With United having a similar attacking threat with rooney and van Persie, Wenger will be looking to play the same style at Old Trafford.
In front of the solid back four will need to be a balanced midfield. They will need to combat the aggressiveness of Phil Jones and the calm, creative play of Michael Carrick. Matheu Flamini is a test and Wenger will not want to risk him as he attempts to recover from his groin injury.
Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey are likely to start behind Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla. Arteta will be Carrick’s opposite number, a similar style of play in the same position will make brilliant watching as the two battle it out to shine. Meanwhile, Tomas Rosicky’s quick passing and interceptions give Arsenal another dimension. Rosicky snatches the ball from the opposition’s midfielders and will give Carrick no time whatsoever to produce one of his magic passes.
Rosicky will be closing down United’s midfielders and defenders while Arteta will be putting Giroud, Ozil and Cazorla through on goal but what doe Ramsey add? The Welshman has had an unexpectedly brilliant start to the season. What he gives to Arsenal is a link between defence, midfield and attack. He tracks back when the London club are defending and once his tea-mates get up the field he’ll power through the field and play them in. He makes the play flow for Arsenal as he gets the ball from Koscielny or Mertersacker and moves forward to make nice little passes with Arteta and Rosicky before giving Giroud, Cazorla and Ozil the chance to smash it in.
The three other names on the team sheet are obvious. Ozil came in this summer and has made a huge impact; not just on Arsenal as a team but each individual player. He has made Cazorla, Ramsey and Giroud better players. He will be the game changer for Arsenal, he’s the player who can make that touch over the defenders head, the magical pass or the rocket of a shot. Alongside him should be Santi Cazorla who can calm play down easily before dribbling through like a traditional Spanish attacking player. In front of the two we can expect Olivier Giroud. He had a great debut season, and although he isn’t van Persie yet, he has improved hugely over the past year and with ozil and Cazorla giving him plenty of chances, he’ll be sure to net at least one!
Final line-up:
Szczesny;
Sagna, Koscielny, Mertersacker, Gibbs;
Arteta, Rosicky;
Ramsey;
Ozil, Cazorla;
Giroud.
Predicted score – Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
A hard fought game as the two similar sides play different formations with similar styles. United will rely on the wings heavily as Arsenal play slightly more narrow. Carrick will be closed down by Rosicky and Ramsey and won’t be able to make as bigger mark on the game as usual while the same will happen to Arteta as Phil Jones closely marks him. Robin van Persie will have to pick himself up after he missed a penalty against Sociedad but should he be able to do that Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertersacker will have plenty of work to do.
What’s your prediction? Let me know at @HRFootball.
Written by Harry Robinson.
Injuries always play a huge role in the big games and United suffered badly when they travelled to Fulham. Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans and Tom Cleverley all came off at half time due to injury while Patrice Evra carried on bearing a knock to his ankle. Rafael is a huge doubt and in my opinion he is the man who changes the outcome of United’s games.
Antonio Valencia has disappointed United fans since his debut season with the reds attracting wide attention from across the globe as he was regarded as the Premier League’s best winger. He now lacks in the confidence to go past players, the good enough cross and a left foot of any ability. With Rafael behind him as full-back, United have a brilliant right flank. Valencia dropping back to give Rafael a hand in defence. Meanwhile, Rafael does his part in attacking relentlessly, providing cross after cross onto van Persie or Rooney’s head.
Without Rafael, United have two options at right back. Those two options are Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Both Englishmen decrease United’s attributes so much that David Moyes has to play a different style of play to suit them. Phil Jones is the strong, traditionally English, rock at the back and playing on the right isn’t his favoured position, neither his best. He is one of the best young defenders around but aside from that, attacking wise, he lacks in quality. His crosses are wayward and he has a poor shot quality, he cannot run past players with ease like Rafael can and this means United’s attack is given much less support. Similarly with Chris Smalling, we have a brilliant defender but a player with poor attacking quality. We’re likely to see Chris Smalling start as right-back as Jones is set to feature elsewhere.
With Rafael not starting, we can expect to see an attacking central line-up from United as they try to cover the hole left by Rafael in attack. In midfield, United have Tom Cleverley being tested. Cleverley has yet to fulfil his potential yet after an unbelievable start to his first season at United but has been consistent in his play and is finally being recognised as one of United’s key players. He was taken off at half time against Fulham due to double vision but had a great first 45 minutes as he linked well with Jones, Januzaj, Rooney and van Persie to score 3 goals in the space of 15 minutes.
Expecting Cleverley to be out injured who will feature instead of him? Jones showed once again his midfield prowess against Fulham as he slotted nicely beside Cleverley. With United having to find ways to balance counter attacking Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey as well as defending them, Jones will be the perfect man alongside Michael Carrick. Carrick’s creativity with Jones hard-working defending will fit like a puzzle against Arsenal’s attacking three. Aside from those two, Moyes has other options. He could slide Fellaini with Carrick and he looks for muscle against the slightly more fragile Arsenal front men. However, with Fellaini getting sent off against Sociedad during mid-week, Moyes needs to show him where he stands and make sure he doesn’t get away for it. So for me, the midfield two to combat Arsenal has to be Phil Jones and Michael Carrick.
Behind them along with Chris Smalling and of course the ever green Patrice Evra (who is set to be fit for Sunday) are many options. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have been injury free so far this season and have performed brilliantly, not only alongside each other, but alongside Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. However, as age catches up on them, we’re likely to only see one feature following the pair starting United’s mid-week Champions League game against Real Sociedad. The likelihood is that Nemanja Vidic, a rock at the back when he has played this season, will start alongside Jonny Evans. With the younger pairing of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones not available as they play in other positions Moyes has three options; Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans or Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. With Nemanja Vidic’s leadership qualities always bringing a massive boost when it comes to big rivalries, it’s a no brainer for Moyes to put him in the starting line-up. Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand are the two other options. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand used to be the best defensive partnership in the world but as they’ve got older, their pace has faded away and coming up against a fast paced Arsenal side with Ferdinand and Vidic would hamper United’s chances at three points. So, the alternative? The more agile, Jonny Evans. With him and Vidic starting at the back you have the brave captain in Vidic and the ball-playing, Jonny Evans who will always give you the same on the pitch. He has been one of the most consistent players over the last season.
On the wings, we are likely to see Antonio Valencia and Adnan Januzaj after the two have featured in 3 of the last 4 games together. Januzaj, Rooney, van Persie and Valencia have striked up an excellent quartet and have looked a real threat so far. Arsenal will need to defend as well as they did against Dortmund in mid-week if they are going to have any chance on Sunday.
Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney aren’t worth discussing. The two are sure to start, I presume Rooney will start behind van Persie as United look to give van Persie more service than normal with Arsenal aiming to close them down quickly.
Final line-up:
De Gea;
Smalling, Evans, Vidic (C), Evra;
Valencia, Jones, Carrick, Januzaj;
Rooney;
Van Persie.
Arsenal
The Gooners have had a fantastic start to the season. 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. They lie top of the table and Wenger’s line-up has been pretty consistent so far.
Arsenal have been extremely lucky with injuries so far and go into Sunday’s clash with no prominent set-backs.
In front of Szczesny in goal should be Kieran Gibbs, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. The four have started 4 the last 5 games and have performed to the best of their ability. Away at Borussia Dortmund they grabbed a 1-0 win as the four didn’t let Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan make their mark on the game. With United having a similar attacking threat with rooney and van Persie, Wenger will be looking to play the same style at Old Trafford.
In front of the solid back four will need to be a balanced midfield. They will need to combat the aggressiveness of Phil Jones and the calm, creative play of Michael Carrick. Matheu Flamini is a test and Wenger will not want to risk him as he attempts to recover from his groin injury.
Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey are likely to start behind Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla. Arteta will be Carrick’s opposite number, a similar style of play in the same position will make brilliant watching as the two battle it out to shine. Meanwhile, Tomas Rosicky’s quick passing and interceptions give Arsenal another dimension. Rosicky snatches the ball from the opposition’s midfielders and will give Carrick no time whatsoever to produce one of his magic passes.
Rosicky will be closing down United’s midfielders and defenders while Arteta will be putting Giroud, Ozil and Cazorla through on goal but what doe Ramsey add? The Welshman has had an unexpectedly brilliant start to the season. What he gives to Arsenal is a link between defence, midfield and attack. He tracks back when the London club are defending and once his tea-mates get up the field he’ll power through the field and play them in. He makes the play flow for Arsenal as he gets the ball from Koscielny or Mertersacker and moves forward to make nice little passes with Arteta and Rosicky before giving Giroud, Cazorla and Ozil the chance to smash it in.
The three other names on the team sheet are obvious. Ozil came in this summer and has made a huge impact; not just on Arsenal as a team but each individual player. He has made Cazorla, Ramsey and Giroud better players. He will be the game changer for Arsenal, he’s the player who can make that touch over the defenders head, the magical pass or the rocket of a shot. Alongside him should be Santi Cazorla who can calm play down easily before dribbling through like a traditional Spanish attacking player. In front of the two we can expect Olivier Giroud. He had a great debut season, and although he isn’t van Persie yet, he has improved hugely over the past year and with ozil and Cazorla giving him plenty of chances, he’ll be sure to net at least one!
Final line-up:
Szczesny;
Sagna, Koscielny, Mertersacker, Gibbs;
Arteta, Rosicky;
Ramsey;
Ozil, Cazorla;
Giroud.
Predicted score – Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
A hard fought game as the two similar sides play different formations with similar styles. United will rely on the wings heavily as Arsenal play slightly more narrow. Carrick will be closed down by Rosicky and Ramsey and won’t be able to make as bigger mark on the game as usual while the same will happen to Arteta as Phil Jones closely marks him. Robin van Persie will have to pick himself up after he missed a penalty against Sociedad but should he be able to do that Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertersacker will have plenty of work to do.
What’s your prediction? Let me know at @HRFootball.
Written by Harry Robinson.