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The Barclays Premier League enters its 8th Gameweek on the back of yet another disappointing mid-week for English clubs in Europe, where Chelsea and Arsenal suffered dis-spiriting defeats to Porto and Olympiakos respectively. The two Manchester clubs also had to dig deep to earn 2-1 victories each, with Manchester United coming from behind to beat German side VFL Wolfsburg and Manchester City following suit against Borussia Monchengladbach.
This weekend sees a whole lot of blockbuster fixtures, with the Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton coming up, along with the Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Bundesliga title contenders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also face off at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.
Apart from the Merseyside derby, another fixture which promises to be the centre of everyone’s attention is the clash between historic rivals Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The pair will come head-to-head for the 222nd time. Manchester United have won this fixture 93 times, whereas Arsenal have been victorious on 79 occasions.
Kick Off and Live Telecast
Channel: StarSports 4, StarSports HD4
Live Stream: starsports.com
Date and Time: Sunday, 4th October 2015 – 2030 IST (1600 BST)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
Team News
Arsenal
Arsenal’s home defeat to Olympiakos saw their most reliable central defender in Laurent Koscielny suffer a hamstring injury, which makes him a doubt for the game on Sunday. Gabriel returns to the squad after serving a one-match suspension, while Francis Coquelin is also set to start following his recovery from a knee injury. Mathieu Flamini is still not 100% fit from his hamstring problem and is unlikely to feature. Arsenal continue to miss the services of Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere to long-term injuries.
Manchester United
Manchester United will assess the fitness of Marcos Rojo, Michael Carrick and Paddy McNair ahead of the match. Rojo and Carrick were left out of the squad against Wolfsburg, whereas McNair was an unused substitute. Luke Shaw remains a long-term absentee from the Red Devils squad.
Form
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger will be enraged by the manner of their loss at home to Greek champions Olympiakos on Tuesday and will be demanding a response from his side, which, despite their struggles in Europe, are in impressive form in the Premier League. They come into this game on the back of a 5-2 thrashing of Leicester at the King Power Stadium in their last league fixture. Arsenal will be relieved at the prospect of Alexis Sanchez having recovered his touch by virtue of his hat-trick against Claudio Ranieri’s side, and will be hoping for more of the same from him on Sunday.
Theo Walcott also seems to be growing in confidence in his new lone striker's role, scoring twice in his last 3 appearances. Arsenal will expect Walcott to be sharp with his decision making inside the box in order to expose the United defence and convert chances into goals.
Defensively though, Arsenal continue to face problems and that has now been compounded with Koscielny’s hamstring injury. Should he be ruled out, Arsene Wenger may have to deploy another new centre-back pairing of Per Mertesacker and Gabriel to face the likes of Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Memphis Depay. It will require 90 minutes of strict defensive organisation from the duo if Arsenal are to keep United’s menacing attack at bay and keep afloat their chances of winning the game.
Last 5 games: L-W-W-L-L (Most Recent: Arsenal 2-3 Olympiakos)
Manchester United
Manchester United will be running high on confidence following their hard earned victory against German side Wolfsburg on Wednesday, where they had to respond to going behind after just 4 minutes to collect all 3 points. Juan Mata’s law-defying vision of the game and the quick feet of Anthony Martial is bound to cause problems for Arsenal’s back-four.
However, Man United’s biggest concern will be the waning form of their club captain Wayne Rooney. Goals have been hard to come by for the 29-year old, and his skier from 12 yards in an unchallenged position reflects the frustrating form of England’s record goalscorer. He has suffered many form dips in his career and history books suggest that he will return to his best sooner rather than later, but Rooney will have to come up with the goods very quickly, or else Louis van Gaal may have to make a very big decision regarding Rooney’s position in the squad if under-performances keep repeating themselves.
It is worth noting that Wayne Rooney’s last league goal away from home came against Arsenal last season in November. Will history repeat itself?
Last 5 games: W-W-W-W-L (Most Recent: Man United 2-1 Wolfsburg)
Key Stats
Head-to-Head
- Arsenal have failed to beat Manchester United in their last 8 attempts in the Premier League. (3D, 5L)
- The last time Arsenal beat the Red Devils at the Emirates was in a 1-0 victory in May 2011.
- Since Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford in August 2011, all subsequent results in this fixture have been decided by a single goal margin.
Arsenal
- Arsenal have lost 3 out of their last 5 games in all competitions (W2)
- They have won just 2 out of their last 7 league games at the Emirates stadium(2L, 3D), failing to score in 5 of those games.
- Alexis Sanchez has scored 4 goals in his last 2 appearances for the Gunners.
Manchester United
- Manchester United have won 5 out of their last 6 fixtures in all competitions.
- Juan Mata has been involved in 4 of his side’s last 5 goals in all competitions ( 2 goals, 2 assists).
- Wayne Rooney has not scored an away goal in the Premier League since netting against Arsenal at the Emirates in November 2014.
Probable line-ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1):
Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott
Manchester United (4-2-3-1):
de Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Young, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Mata, Rooney, Memphis, Martial
Key Battles
Per Mertesacker vs Anthony Martial
With Anthony Martial’s sublime movement inside the box, the challenge for Per Mertesacker is to keep up with the speed and agility of the 19-year old, whose performances have given defenders afternoons to forget in the Premier League. Mertesacker, known to be slow to come out of the blocks, would have been worried at the ease with which Martial skinned Younes Kaboul of Sunderland in the build-up to their second goal last week. With the probable absence of Koscielny, the German now has the responsibility of countering the threat of the Frenchman and preventing him from going through on goal on too many instances during the game.
Francis Coquelin vs Juan Mata
Juan Mata has been in unstoppable form over the past couple of weeks at Old Trafford. His ability to read the movement of advancing forwards and supply a pass or a cross for the same bodes extremely well for Louis van Gaal’s side. It is up to defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin to stay on his toes and get right at Mata in order to prevent him from setting up goal-scoring chances by looking to intercept his through balls or trying to dispossess the ball off Mata. To keep up with Mata’s work ethic over the course of the 90 minutes will be the Frenchman’s biggest test come Sunday.
Prediction
Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United
Though Arsenal have an extra day off as compared to Manchester United to prepare for this game, Louis van Gaal has suggested that his side still have the legs and the quality to open up the Arsenal back-line and beat Petr Cech. Arsenal, though, have a very efficient midfield and are expected to create enough goal-scoring chances to test David de Gea. United’s prowess in attack and Arsenal’s dominating midfield will probably cancel each other out, and that is why I am predicting both sides to come out of this game with the spoils shared.
Betting Odds(bet365)
Arsenal – 1
Manchester United - 14/5
Draw – 14/5
