Mikel Arteta simply must start these 3 crucial Arsenal players vs. Man United

A trip to Old Trafford is always tricky for Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta can make the start to the 2025/26 Premier League season easier by starting the following three players vs. Manchester United.

The so-called 'Theatre of Dreams' has usually been a nightmare for Arsenal in Premier League terms. United's home has been the site of some results the Gunners wish they could forget. Think 8-2 in 2011 or 6-1 in 2001.

One of the few things Mikel Arteta has gotten consistently right as Arsenal boss is to have his team punching in its weight class against the big boys of the Premier League. United are no longer a true heavyweight, more like in name only, but Arteta owns a solid record against the Red Devils, seven wins, two draws and as many defeats, per StatMuse, which includes a pair of wins at Old Trafford.

Adding to that tally will depend on the team Arteta picks for Sunday, August 17. The ideal starting XI for Arsenal must contain two notable names up top, along with a change-up at left-back.

Here are three crucial players Arteta must start for the season-opener.

1. Viktor Gyökeres

There's no need for Arteta to try and be clever (as if anybody ever had to tell him to try) or be overly cautious. Gyökeres must start immediately. Simples.

The Gunners have to get the long-awaited true striker they've been craving for too long onto the pitch right away for two reasons. First, Gyökeres needs all the minutes he can get to acclimate in a team still bereft of creativity beyond a Martin Odegaard through-pass and some improvised magic from Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal struggled to create for Gyökeres during the preseason tussle with Villarreal, but things picked up against Athletic Bilbao. His nifty header offered an exciting glimpse of greater things to come from the prolific Sweden international.

Those things must begin against United, so there's no need for Arteta to have Gyökeres sit and watch from the bench to gain some kind of judgment about the pace of England's top flight. Let the frontman who thrived on these shores before with Coventry City learn the Premier League as he goes, and prove the doubters of his scoring records wrong.

Gyokeres' learning curve will be easier to navigate if he's supported by a key holdover from last season's attack.

2. Gabriel Martinelli

He's looked like obvious transfer bait for much of this summer, but Gabriel Martinelli is still a player Arsenal need on the pitch against United. Even though the Brazilian has yet to find the net against Sunday's opposition.

What Martinelli does have is pace to trouble a labouring Untied back line. Both Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt can be outsprinted down the sides, and Martinelli's straight-line speed will be a problem. So will the 24-year-old's ability to dart into space with angled runs from outside to in from the left flank.

The latter quality makes Martinelli a better option to start than summer import Noni Madueke, but there's another reason to give a familiar face the nod. Martinelli was finding himself again when pressed into action as a central striker later last season, and while he may not line up there from the start in Manchester, he can use the right movement to double up with Gyökeres.

It's one more way for Arteta to show this squad, revamped by yet more Kroenke dollars the manager hardly merited, finally has the firepower to press home any advantage gained in the title race.

3. Riccardo Calafiori

There's an obvious temptation to let Myles Lewis-Skelly continues his remarkable upward trajectory, but the precocious Hale End graduate should miss out to Riccardo Calafiori for this fixture. The Italian is better suited to deal with a United lineup likely to be front-loaded on the right flank.

It's where Ruben Amorim is turning Amad Diallo into a wing-back. Diallo moves like lightning going forward, so Calafiori's greater defensive nous will be required, but the former Bologna man can also test United in other ways.

Specifically, Calafiori's own aptitude getting forward will test how quickly Diallo can move in retreat. What's the appetite of a 23-year-old with an attacking mentality to track back and defend?

Calafiori will surely find out, while also making sure Arsenal are secure enough defensively against a suddenly dangerous-looking United attack. Pairing Diallo with summer signing Bryan Mbeumo, who loves to cut in from the right, makes it likely the hosts will do most of their business on that side of the pitch.

It means William Saliba and Gabrial Magalhaes could get dragged out of position by wide forwards like Mbeumo and previous apple of Arsenal's eye Benjamin Sesko. So full-backs may be busy tracking wing-backs and getting around on the cover against underlapping runners.

Those are jobs for an experienced, natural full-back like Calafiori.

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