Arsenal vs Manchester United: 5 key players in lynchpin match

2. Matteo Guendouzi

I really liked what Unai Emery did against Tottenham. With two young, ball-hawking midfielders, he gave them each 45 minutes with which to play their hearts out. Matteo Guendouzi got the first half, Lucas Torreira got the second and it worked out almost perfectly… until Torreira got shown red.

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Now, that midfield is going to have two men for the full 90 minutes – Granit Xhaka and Guendouzi. That’s it.

There have been matches that the Gunners have won solely because they wont the battle of the midfield with superior talent. They’ve smothered out Chelsea, dominated Tottenham, even won the midfield battle against Liverpool, but United may be their biggest test thanks to the red card to Torreira and the looming Paul Pogba, who is on a tear so fierce that not even I can call him overrated.

Xhaka is going to do what Xhaka does, but Guendouzi is going to have to go above and beyond to do the work that he would normally be able to share with Torreira. It’s all on him in this one and, much like Mkhitaryan, I have absolute faith in him accomplishing his task.

Finally, No. 1.