Arsenal vs Manchester United: 3 key battles in titanic clash

3. William Saliba vs Marcus Rashford

Revenge is in order following our high-line woes at Old Trafford last September.

William Saliba was part of the Arsenal rearguard that day and fell victim to Rashford’s electrifying pace in transition, with a dysfunctional offside trap gifting the England man his second career brace against us.

But those shortcomings owed primarily to risky tactical instruction and, after his excellent recoveries against Crystal Palace (Jordan Ayew) and Fulham (Adama Traoré), it seems that a good starting position is all ‘Wilo’ needs to shut down any counter-attacking bursts.

Bearing this in mind, as well as Saliba’s marked physical advantage, United may decide to field Rashford out wide and allow him to drift centrally when they gain possession – with the avoidance of any physical duel swinging the odds back in United’s favour.

These out-to-in runs present a huge challenge for any defence and recently saw Rashford get back to his usual, dangerous self against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, ending the afternoon with two assists to his name.

He loves to find the Arsenal net, but we could not have a better man to stop him.