Arsenal take on Manchester United at Old Trafford emboldened after their brilliant 7-1 away win over PSV in the UEFA Champions League. Martin Odegaard and company inspired the Gunners back into form at the best possible time and at last after such a poor start to the year.
While the European competition is taking much more prominence for the club in terms of the chances of winning it, the Premier League cannot be discounted and with the tie with PSV effectively sorted, Mikel Arteta can rotate in midweek and put everything into this clash in the northwest.
Arsenal managed a 1-0 win away at their old rivals last season, but Ruben Amorim managed to knock Arteta out of the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium earlier this year. Now is the time to get some revenge. United have got growing injury worries themselves, too, and this could be big for Arsenal.
Naturally, there could yet be some changes made to the team that won in the Netherlands, but the majority of the side will be expected to remain the same. David Raya, of course, will be in goal yet again in the Premier League.
Jurrien Timber will give Ben White a very tough time in fighting back the right-back spot, he was gloriously good in Eindhoven this week. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will be in the middle, fending off the first time the majority of Arsenal fans might see former youth player Chido Obi-Martin on the field but in a Manchester United shirt. The same goes for Ayden Heaven too.
Riccardo Calafiori had an amazing substitute appearance at PSV, setting up Leandro Trossard before managing to score like a natural striker for the seventh goal of the game. He comes in for Myles Lewis-Skelly, who could have been sent off despite doing brilliantly to set up Ethan Nwaneri.
The 17-year-old will start in an unchanged front three. There is little reason to swap out Mikel Merino and Trossard, too with Raheem Sterling disappointing again in his substitute appearance.
In midfield, the return to form of Odegaard is great for Arsenal, and he will be looking to score another goal against the Red Devils. Meanwhile, Declan Rice was also a much better player than what we had seen at Forest or against his old side, West Ham, and he too has a good record against United that he will hope to extend.
The third midfielder for the match, however, is Jorginho, who could replace Thomas Partey. The Ghanaian gave away a silly penalty against PSV and this type of action could have been very costly. Arsenal cannot afford a similar event at Old Trafford.
Changed Arsenal XI vs Manchester United – Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard; Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard.
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