Arsenal travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Wednesday, after a confidence-inspiring victory over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
If there’s one place you can definitely expect Arsenal’s 19-game unbeaten run to come under threat, it’s at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho’s side have been pretty awful this season, but there’s one game a year that United always turn up for, and it’s this one.
As such, there’s no time for celebrations, as Unai Emery will have to call on many of those who featured on Sunday to start again in midweek.
Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for Arsenal, and stick around for team news and a predicted lineup for Manchester United as well:
Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs
If there were ever a time to drop Bernd Leno, then arguably the Tottenham Hotspur game was that time. Though the German has shown superior shot-stopping and distribution to Petr Cech, the 36-year-old is still statistically better in the air, and Tottenham lead the league in headed goals.
Since Unai Emery picked Leno anyway, it seems pretty clear he’s the go-to goalkeeper for the league games now. As such, he should start again on Wednesday.
In defence, we expect Emery to stick with the three-at-the-back formation which is working so well right now. Assuming Shkodran Mustafi recovers from his small knock, he’ll start alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Rob Holding, given they’re pretty much the only options available.
Laurent Koscielny is almost back to full fitness, but the rumours are that he’s going to start for the u21s against Portsmouth on Tuesday.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Wing-Backs, Forwards, and the full Predicted Starting XIs for Arsenal and Manchester United
Midfield and Wing-Backs
Sadly, after an impressive 55 league games in a row for Granit Xhaka, he’s out of this one. His yellow card against Tottenham Hotspur means he’s now accumulated enough to earn a one-match suspension.
As a result, Lucas Torreira will have to work with a new partner in midfield. We expect Matteo Guendouzi to start, as Emery clearly rates the Frenchman highly as a backup to the starting pair. He’s only missed three matches in all competitions this season.
In the wing-back positions, it’s hard to look past Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac. The pair were excellent against Tottenham, with Bellerin playing the pass of the match in the build-up to Aubameyang’s equaliser, and Kolasinac creating more chances than any other player on the pitch.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards, and the full Predicted Starting XIs for Arsenal and Manchester United
Forwards
In the second half against Tottenham, Emery tried a new way to fit both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into the team, by playing them as a strike partnership with Aaron Ramsey in behind.
It was a lot more effective than Emery’s previous attempts using a back-four because the wing-backs could easily get up the pitch to support the forwards in the wide areas. It helped that Ramsey was in great form and linked up well with both of them.
With Mesut Özil’s injury, he’s still a serious doubt for this match. As a result, we expect Ramsey to get his first league start since September, behind the same strike duo that finished Sunday’s game. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi will drop to the bench for now.
Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XIs for Arsenal and Manchester United
Arsenal Predicted Starting XI
Click ‘Next’ for Manchester United Team News and Predicted Starting XI
Manchester United Team News
Manchester United have a bit of an injury and suspension crisis ahead of this Arsenal clash, with multiple key players set to miss out.
United’s draw with Southampton on Saturday caused more than one problem for manager Jose Mourinho. For a start, Ashley Young is certainly out, after picking up a yellow card suspension.
Romelu Lukaku had to be withdrawn early with an injury, and he’ll now be a doubt for Wednesday’s match. The official Manchester United website says it’s ‘currently unclear’ whether the Belgian is injured. Marcus Rashford also came off early after a knock, but Mourinho says he hopes the striker will recover in time.
Alexis Sanchez certainly won’t be fit, after suffering a thigh injury seemingly set to keep him out until January.
Defence is certainly where they’re having the most problems though. Reports suggest Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof, Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian could all miss out. It looks like Marcos Rojo could be set to return in time though.
If Shaw does end up missing out, United really will have to improvise, because Dalot is the only other fit full-back at the club and he’s needed on the other side. The United website says it ‘remains to be seen’ if the Englishman will be available.
Click ‘Next’ for our Predicted Manchester United XI
Manchester United Predicted Starting XI
