Arsenal vs Manchester United: 3 Crucial factors to watch out for

Arsenal face Manchester United in a crucial group league match at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Arsenal have 57 points from 29 matches, whereas United have 58 from 29. United are going through a purple patch under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and have won 14 of the 17 matches under his tutelage.

United are now at the 4th position in the league table, while Arsenal are at 5th. United would be fresh from a remarkable 3-1 win over PSG in Paris, and might look to register another away win under Solskjaer. United might even hope of finishing 3rd in the league table following their resurgence under their new coach.

We would now take a look at the 3 crucial factors which might determine the fate of the match.

#1 United would have some fresh players in the mix

United might field some relatively new players on Sunday, as they did against PSG on Wednesday. Paul Pogba would make a comeback after having missed the match against PSG, but the likes of Fred, Andreas Perreira and Diego Dalot might play against Arsenal. All three of them had played against PSG, and played their part in United’s memorable victory.

McTominay has also been very impressive in the last few matches for United, and should again start on Sunday. He has filled in very nicely for the injured Nemanja Matic, and would hold the key in midfield again. Pogba would continue to play as a central attacking midfielder and might set up or score a goal or two against the Gunners.

However, all eyes would be on Dalot, as he seems to have solved United’s problems down the right flank. He is a forceful player and has a great right foot. In fact, United’s match-winning penalty had resulted from Dalot’s goal-bound shot only, as one of the PSG defenders handled it inside their own penalty box. The 19-year-old Dalot has played in 14 matches for United so far, and seems to have a great career ahead of him.

Fred would also look to prove his worth with his quick touches and incisive passing in the midfield. He should, however, fall back at times to defend as well, as Pogba would be playing in a more attacking role. Perreira scored a brilliant goal against Southampton, and might look forward to scoring more such goals in the future.

#2 United would have to stretch Arsenal’s back line

Arsenal put up a dour defensive performance against Tottenham last weekend, and would want to repeat that act against United. Each of their 4 defenders, who started against Tottenham, can play actually as central defenders. It made their intentions pretty clear, and they would try to stop United’s attacks by crowding their own penalty box.

Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny were very good against Tottenham, and made a lot of interceptions and blocks inside their penalty box. United would have to stretch Arsenal’s backline to create spaces around the penalty box, and thereby penetrate into it. They can do so with probing runs through the flanks by the likes of Ashley Young, Dalot and Luke Shaw.

Romelu Lukaku is in red-hot form for United, and has scored 6 goals in the last 3 matches for them. He would again try to force his way through the Arsenal defence, and score a vital goal or two. Marcus Rashford, on the other hand, would keep making those runs to the flanks, and thereby take his markers along with himself.

#3 Arsenal would rely on Lacazette and Aubemyang to score

Arsenal coach Unai Emery would want his team to go for 3 points in their home ground. Their home form has been pretty good this season, and they would try to continue the good run against United too.

Arsenal should play Aaron Ramsey, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as their attacking players, and each one of them is fast enough to trouble the United defence. However, United should continue their strategy of defending deep with players like Victor Lindelof and McTominay in good form.

Aubemeyang, who missed a penalty against Tottenham, might again look to make those darting, diagonal runs to the final third, and thereby create scoring opportunities. He has scored 19 goals in 35 matches so far in the ongoing season, and might look forward to increasing his tally in Sunday’s match. United defenders should have an eye on him, and also be on alert against Lacazette’s opportunism inside the penalty box.

Lacazette has scored 14 goals in 35 matches this season, and would be the man to watch out for against United. However, it would be interesting to see whether Emery introduces Mesut Ozil in the second half of the match, just like he did against Tottenham. Ozil's experience and creativity could prove to be useful in such an important match.

Edited by Abhinav Munshi