Arsenal are set to face Manchester United in a must-win game at Old Trafford, but they will be more confident of a result this time.
The Gunners have won just one Premier League game at Old Trafford in the last 18 years, with a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty sealing a 1-0 victory during the period where there were no fans inside grounds.
In recent years, some strong Arsenal sides have gone into games against weaker Man United needing to win for their title ambitions, but came away with defeats.
This time around, the gulf in quality between the two sides may be bigger than ever before. Erik ten Hag’s side will be coming into the game off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, with midfielder Casemiro lining up at centre-back amid an injury crisis.
Man United have won just one of their last seven league games, whilst Mikel Arteta’s side have been flying with just one defeat in 2024, and are aiming to keep pace with Manchester City at the top of the table.
Arsenal have a different team going to face Man Utd at Old Trafford
Arsenal’s last visit to Old Trafford came in September 2022, with both clubs featuring very different teams on the day.
Man United secured a 3-1 win despite Arsenal putting in a strong performance on the back of five straight wins. New signing Antony scored on his debut, but he would rarely score again. Bukayo Saka equalised at the start of the second half, but Arteta’s side were opened up by a quickfire double from Marcus Rashford on the counter-attack.
Despite Arsenal possessing quality back then, it is a different team now, with David Raya in goal instead of Aaron Ramsdale, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu looks set to start ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back.
Kai Havertz will also provide more of a physical threat than Gabriel Jesus, who was impressive despite the defeat. However, the biggest changes of all have come in midfield.
Declan Rice and Thomas Partey will give Arsenal extra boost against Man Utd
Thomas Partey missed the last trip to face Man United with injury, and Albert Sambi Lokonga replaced him at the base of midfield.
The Belgian struggled to cope with the intensity of the game in a midfield battle against Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes, and Rashford’s brace came from Arsenal being caught cold on the counter attack.
Arteta will now hope to avoid a repeat, with summer signing Declan Rice expected to line up in a number eight role, with Partey at the base.
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This shape has proven effective in recent weeks, with Partey and Rice both bringing a level of physicality combined with technical security, and this should help Arsenal dominate the middle of the park at Old Trafford.
Rice in particular, can help stop United on the counter-attack, and Arteta now looks set to unleash the pair to control the game, pen the hosts back into their own half and prevent any fast breaks, and with three clean sheets in the last four games since Partey came into the side, they will back themselves to shut United out at their own stadium.