Arsenal are going to take on Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday in a crucial Premier League match. The Gunners lead the league table with 47 points from 18 matches at the moment, while Manchester United are third with 39 points from 19.
Arsenal have won four of their last five league matches and will again start the favourites on Sunday. However, United have improved a lot under Erik ten Hag and might pose a serious challenge to the home side.
We will now take a look at two things that might determine the fate of the match:
#1. Manchester United again opting to start with an extra defensive midfielder:
Manchester United had played a couple of defensive midfielders in their 2-1 win over Manchester City last week, with Fred policing Kevin de Bruyne and Casemiro producing a fine performance besides registering an assist.
However, Casemiro, who has probably been the signing of the season so far, will miss the Arsenal match owing to a one-match suspension he got after seeing a yellow card in United’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace last Wednesday.
Hence, Ten Hag might opt to start with Scott McTominay alongside Fred in a 4-2-3-1, with Christian Eriksen playing as the No. 10 and Bruno Fernandes playing as the make-shift right winger, like he did against Manchester City.
An extra man in the midfield will allow United to be better equipped to deal with Arsenal’s enviable potency in attack, as Arsenal will also have an extra presence in the form of left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who switches to midfield often.
The Gunners will once again start with a 4-2-3-1, with in-form Martin Odegaard posing a serious threat to United’s defense along with the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Their free-flowing football comprising of a plethora of passes will test the United defense undoubtedly on Sunday.
United’s fullbacks are unlikely to venture forward much in order to deal with the threat posed by the Arsenal wingers. Tyrell Malacia might start as the left-back and will have to be cautious against the axis of Saka and Ben White down the right flank.
#2. Arsenal’s defenders dealing with Marcus Rashford and United’s counter-attacks:
It goes without saying that Mikel Arteta’s side will be wary of Rashford, who has scored 16 goals in the season so far. Rashford is equally adept in scoring goals from inside the penalty box and cutting in from the left flank to breach the opposition defense.
Moreover, substitutes like Antony and Alejandro Garnacho can put any defense to stern test with their speedy runs. Garnacho has already shown the impact he is capable of having in the recent Manchester Derby.
United will continue to be dangerous from counter-attacks, with the likes of Eriksen and Fernandes capable of playing probing long passes into the opposition half.
As a result, the role of Granit Xhaka becomes very important, as Thomas Partey, Arsenal’s other holding midfielder, will be busy spreading the ball around more often. Xhaka will have to shepherd their defense by giving adequate cover to the full-backs as well as play as the third centre-back at times.
However, Arsenal have two very good centre-backs in the form of William Saliba and Gabriel and it remains to be seen whether they succeed in dealing with United’s attacking prowess successfully.