It’s one of the great rivalries in English football but of late Arsenal’s meetings with Manchester United have rather looked like one way traffic. Ruben Amorim’s side might have clung on to a draw in the FA Cup third round, winning the tie on penalties, but they have lost their last four league games to Mikel Arteta’s side, their longest losing streak ever to Arsenal.
Following a grueling trip to face Real Sociedad on Thursday, Ruben Amorim and his players will have to dig deep against an opponent who arrives on an almighty high having rained down seven goals on PSV Eindhoven two days earlier. Injury issues still plague the Arsenal attack but they haven’t gone three Premier League games without a goal since August 2021.
Viewing information
- Date: Sunday, March 9 | Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Old Trafford — Manchester, United Kingdom
- TV: NBC Live stream: fuboTV
- Odds: Manchester United +380; Draw +260; Arsenal -133
Team news
Manchester United: Patrick Dorgu is serving his suspension after a red card against Ipswich, complicating Amorim’s options at left wing back, where defensive solidity will be needed to quell Arsenal’s bright young spark Ethan Nwaneri. The wing back adds to a pretty lengthy list of absentees for United, with the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez and Amad Diallo unavailable. Toby Collyer returned to action against Real Sociedad in midweek but both Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte were missing because of knocks. Whether they will be available is not yet clear.
“We have to recover, be really smart during the game against Arsenal,” said Amorim, who must keep one eye on Thursday’s Europa League round of 16 second leg at Old Trafford. “We have to check the players, they have to sleep. It’s an important moment in our season.”
Possible Manchester United XI: Onana; Lindelof, De Ligt, Yoro; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Zirkzee, Garnacho; Hojlund
Arsenal: The levee having broken in Eindhoven, it will be up to Arsenal to prove that there was more to their enormous win than bad defending by PSV and a few shots breaking their way. Without the injured quartet of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka the attack has unsurprisingly stuttered and Mikel Merino still does not look like a natural leading the Arsenal line.
Still it seems likely he’ll keep his place in a team that might change little from Tuesday night. After all if Arteta needs to bring in some fringe players he can do so on Wednesday where his side are six goals to the good. This game should really about keeping the daylight between Arsenal in second and the chasing pack for Champions League spots.
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard
Prediction
Given the heavy legs in United colors, this might just be the day for Arsenal and their defense to grind out three points. PICK: Manchester United 0, Arsenal 1
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