Gary Neville sends stern warning to ‘below par’ Manchester United ahead of Arsenal clash

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has warned the Red Devils that they cannot put in a sub-par performance in their upcoming clash against Arsenal. Erik ten Hag's men are set to lock horns with the Gunners at the Emirates on September 3.

United have had a rocky start to the 2023-24 Premier League campaign. They suffered a brutal 2-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on August 19. They have secured two victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest but have been poor overall.

Neville believes Manchester United's upcoming clash against Arsenal will be a huge test for them. He also pointed out that their performances this campaign have not been up to the mark.

The Englishman said on Sky Sports:

"Manchester United are decent on the counter-attack but it is a big test for them. Their performances so far this season have been below par. If you’re below par at the Emirates you will get beaten. United have to rise and raise their game, but Arsenal need to sort themselves out too.”

The Red Devils currently find themselves eighth in the Premier League table, a point behind the top four, after three games.

By contrast, Ten Hag's side finished the 2022-23 season in third place, four points above fourth-placed Newcastle United, after displaying great form. They secured 23 wins from 38 league encounters.

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"Arteta is going to end that experiment" - Gary Neville makes interesting tactical prediction for Arsenal vs Manchester United

Neville believes Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will revert to playing four proper defenders for the Manchester United clash.

The Gunners have been using Thomas Partey as right-back and keeping Gabriel Magalhaes on the bench this season. Neville has labeled Arteta's strategy as an experiment while claiming that he will go back to his fundamentals for the game against United.

The former Manchester United defender said:

"I would say that for me, looking at Arsenal, there is an element of experimentation, and this expectation that full-backs think they can play midfield and midfielders think they can play at full-back."

He added:

"Thomas Partey is playing half-and-half in a game, and sometimes there is an element that you need to go back to basics. I would expect next week that Arteta is going to end that experiment and probably go with a solid back four with four defenders."

Arteta has deployed Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey as a right-back this season in his formation. Neville predicts that the Spanish manager will return the midfielder back to his natural position alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

He said:

"He will maybe move Partey into midfield along with [Declan] Rice and Martin Odegaard, to get back to something which resembles what a team should look like."

Arsenal have also won two of their first three games this season, drawing against Fulham in their previous game.