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:
1Goalkeeper 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