Pain in the Arsenal
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Manchester United Match Arsenal’s To Lose

By Scott Johnson

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It’s always been one of the big games of the year and this year it won’t be any different. Arsenal v Manchester United always brings out the best/worst in both sides as they fight tooth and nail for every inch and every goal, and over the years the team expected to take all three points has changed almost with the seasons. But this time, Arsenal have to be considered favourites. Why? Because of everything.

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Injuries

Whilst Arsenal may be the largest sufferer when it comes to injuries in the Premier League it seems to be the turn of United to currently be suffering. Defensively they can’t seem to keep players fit for more than two games at a time and now the player that has arguably been their best performer so far this season, goalkeeper David De Gea, seems to have suffered a dislocated finger in his recent Spain match and is almost certain to not feature in the match against Arsenal.

United’s full injury list: Daley Blind (Knee), David De Gea (Finger), Michael Carrick (Groin), Marcos Rojo (Shoulder), Rafael (Muscular), Ashley Young (Groin), Phil Jones (Calf), Falcao (Calf), Johnny Evans (Ankle), Lingard (Knee)

Form

Arsenal: WWWDL

United: WDDLW

Despite throwing the last two games away Arsenal have still taken the more points from the last 5 matches in all competitions than United have. However you do have to temper this with a hint of caution, because one of those United results was a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and the loss a 1-0 defeat to City.

However those 5 matches are more indicative of Arsenal’s form because they are played in a smaller space of time because we still managed to qualify for European football during last season…

But form will be more misleading going into this match simply because of the international break. Some squads come back fresher and others will have picked up more injuries and will be fragmented, and it’s impossible to tell which United or Arsenal will be until the match itself. Arsenal should have the confidence with them because they have been fine in the early stages of the match, but nerves could hurt them in the death.

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Goalscoring

In the crudest of judgements between the two teams, Arsenal are scoring more goals in recent weeks and have conceded less since the Premier League season began. Despite Manchester United splashing out of a plethora of talent they have stuttered in recent matches, only managing a 1-0 victory over struggling Crystal Palace in their last game.

Arsenal, despite being fronted by United ‘reject’ Danny Welbeck, have been in decent goal-scoring form with Alexis Sanchez finding his feet in the past month to look every inch the start that he was at Barcelona. As long as Arsenal can keep it tight at the back they should find goals more than possible on the large Emirates pitch against United’s patchwork defence.

Venue

I mentioned it briefly, but playing at the Emirates is such a better place than Old Trafford. Wenger can’t seem to stomach turning up at Old Trafford since winning the title there in 2001. Arsenal have lost 9/12 of the matches at United’s stadium since then, even falling to defeat there when Moyes was in charge at Old Trafford.

But at home it has been slightly better for Arsenal, only losing 3/12 in the same time period. But it must also be said that United seem to come alive when they play Arsenal, even when they are not fighting for the same silverware and even more so than they do when they face City. As Alex Ferguson’s biggest rivals it makes sense that this will carry on into the new era of management, but we need to convince ourselves that Arsenal can be a big enough team to take 3 points on Saturday.

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