We head to Old Trafford this weekend on the cusp of achieving something that no side has done in the history of the Premier League.
After our 2-0 success against the Red Devils at Emirates Stadium in December, we stretched our league winning run against United to four matches – the longest streak against them in our top-flight history.
Seeing as we first locked horns in the old First Division back in 1906, that shows how incredibly hard stringing four successive wins together against our old foes has been to achieve – and it is the same for all United’s other opponents.
Only three other teams have achieved four in a row against the Red Devils since the Premier League’s formation in 1992. Liverpool achieved he feat at the turn of the century during Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary tenure, while neighbours Manchester City did the same a decade ago and Brighton & Hove Albion completed a quadruple in 2023, but none of those sides won their next encounter with United.
Therefore, if we leave the north-west with all three points on Sunday evening, we would become the first team in Premier League history to beat Manchester United five times in a row in the competition.
Longest winning PL runs against Man Utd Start of Run End of Run Team Matches 22/01/2023 Ongoing Arsenal 4 07/05/2022 16/09/2023 Brighton 4 08/04/2013 02/11/2014 Man City 4 17/12/2000 22/01/2002 Liverpool 4
Our run began in January 2023 when Eddie Nkeitah flicked home a late winner to secure a dramatic 3-2 triumph on home turf, while we left it late again the following August when Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus scored to secure a 3-1 win.
We then registered our first league double over United since 2006/07 thanks to Leandro Trossard’s goal at Old Trafford back in May 2024, before strikes from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba condemned Ruben Amorim to his first loss as Red Devils boss three months ago.
This is already our best run of wins against the red half of Manchester in our top-flight history, having put together three-in-a-row on four separate occasions before this current stretch:
Our longest top-flight winning runs vs Man Utd Start of Run End of Run Games 22/01/2023 Ongoing 4 09/11/1997 20/09/1998 3 03/12/1989 06/05/1991 3 12/03/1930 21/02/1931 3 05/04/1922 16/01/1926 3
Sunday also presents a chance to end a 46-year wait for sustained success at the Theatre of Dreams. Thanks to that Trossard strike on that rainy May day last year, we can now win consecutive away league matches at Old Trafford for the first time since the 1970s.
In November 1977 Malcolm Macdonald and Frank Stapleton clinched a 2-1 success in Manchester, before we returned in February 1979 when Alan Sunderland netted a brace – a few months ahead of his famous winner in the FA Cup final against the same opponents.
Back-to-back wins at the home of United is something we have only managed twice in our history, with the other occasion coming between 1962 and 1963. Therefore, should Mikel Arteta’s side emerge victorious this weekend, this particular win over our old foes should be something to truly relish.
