Manchester United vs. Arsenal Match Preview

For the first time since “The Invincible’s” this fixture has a real aura surrounding it again. Long gone might be the days of the on-pitch brawls (see picture above) but the intensity remains. Arsenal are in a genuine title challenge at present and come to Old Trafford one point ahead of United. The game has has the making of a classic…

As per usual I will kick off with looking at our guests. Arsenal have considered there change in philosophy under Wenger. Long gone are the days of a physical battle, instead today Arsenal play in a Barcelona-style of pass, pass and move. Battling experienced warhorses like Vieira, Petit and Co. are long gone and in their place are elegant classy young footballers like Fabregas, Nasri and Wilshere. This once ferocious fixture seems to have mellowed.

The football seems to have followed the same path that the Ferguson-Wenger relationship has taken. The mutual respect and real friendship has seen an end to the trash-talking and the animosity between the two experienced managers has come through.

Arsenal are in a position that is somewhat unfamiliar for the current squad. Whilst they’ve never been a million miles from the title race they’ve not been in a genuine title challenge for a few years now. This year (at the time of writing, before Chelsea have played) Arsenal sit top of the table and a point ahead of United. Their form in fact matches how they did last year, they are in fact on the same number of points as I discovered. What’s true of this Arsenal side is that their away form is good whilst their home form is inexplicably poor.

They come to Old Trafford off the back of 4 straight wins in all competitions. In true Arsenal style (of late) though, their inability to keep players fit means that they have been unable to name a consistent starting XI for some time now. Their latest bout of injuries and issues means that they head into this game with doubts over the inclusion of Fabregas, Clichy and Djourou. Clichy’s inclusion might be the vital one – with Gibbs ruled out they will not want to name a player out of position to face the in-form Nani. Joining Gibbs in definitely being ruled out are Diaby, Almunia and Vermaelen. The centre back partnership will be something that United will no doubt look to exploit. A lack of a top class centre back and an ever changing partnership has seen this area look particularly fragile.

Whilst Arsenal’s defence has been dodgy at best (although it should be pointed out that Sagna has had a very solid season to date), their midfield area has looked strong. Jack Wilshere’s hype is looking accurate and the team have shown that they can cope without Fabregas when he’s been injured. Nasri is the latest player to step up and prove his class. He will be the danger that United will have to watch closely. He’s added goals galore to his clever play and excellent dribbling – his 12 goals this season in 21 appearances (all competitions) equal what he managed in his first two years at Arsenal (78 games). Curiously Arshavin has been poor this season yet despite that he still assists a goal every other game in the league. Likewise, Theo Walcott’s season has been stop-start but he similarly averages scoring a goal every other league game.

It would be wrong not to highlight Chamakh. One of the new signings at Arsenal, he had to carry the burden of playing upfront and being thrust in at the deep end early on whilst other strikers were out injured. I think he’s exceeded expectations and whilst a league return of 7 goals in 16 appearances may not match a Drogba, Torres, Van Nistelrooy, or Rooney he’s brought a new dimension to Arsenal. He provides something different for Arsenal. They can hoof the ball long if they like, they know that he’ll challenge for it, put himself about and he will always be in and around the penalty area. He’s not the best target man in the league and he’s far from the best striker in the league but for Arsenal he’s effective and a refreshing alternative. My one pet hate however is that he dives a lot and for a big striker he goes down very easily but we at United have had our own players who’ve done and continue to do that too.

So what to expect? Well Arsenal are likely to play in their 4-5-1 formation. We know they’ll come to play football, certainly sitting back is not in their nature. They shouldn’t be taken lightly, for even if man-for-man they aren’t world beaters, they work well as a unit and a team. United will have to be particularly careful to pick up runners and players moving “between the lines” – something that Van der Vaart of Spurs did, it really troubled the United defence that day. Arsenal are top for a reason, their away form, they’ve taken 17 points away from home this season, more than any other side. Anything other than a defeat will be a good result for them and if the comments of certain Arsenal players are to be taken seriously one gets the impression that there is a real belief that they can get a win.

Enough on Arsenal for now; we know what to expect…

…so onto my predicted line up(s) this week:

Or what I’d like to see:

The 4-5-1 vs. 4-4-2 debate let alone the personnel chosen to play is bugging me for this game. The head says 4-5-1, the heart says 4-4-2. In short, I think the defence picks itself regardless of formation. There is a clear first choice back four this year and that needn’t be up for debate. Ferdinand, Evra and Scholes will all almost certainly be fit having been doubts earlier this week.

What I’ll do now is make the case for both formations and selections. I thought a quick Twitter poll yesterday would help to give me a clear idea of which formation would be the most likely but responses were almost exactly split 50:50 – no help for me!

The 4-5-1 is the obvious choice. It’s the sensible or cautious formation. Based on the fact that is how Arsenal will set up, it might be important to match them in midfield to firstly control the game and secondly not be overrun. The problem this throws up is two fold – who to play in midfield and who to drop out of Rooney and Berbatov. I’ve dropped Carrick and opted for Scholes, Fletcher and Anderson. I think on recent form, Anderson is not droppable for this game and despite recent poor form I believe that Fletcher will play. Scholes or Carrick is a tough call – both have a similar game and arguably Scholes may have a bigger impact off the bench. It becomes an even harder decision due to Carrick’s recent strong form. However to control a match, there is only one player you’d want – Paul Scholes. I’d hope that a change to 4-5-1 wouldn’t inhibit Anderson. He has really relished the box-to-box role he’s had in a 4-4-2 lately and it would seem a shame to place restrictions on him.

Regardless of formation, Nani will play and I expect Park to be selected ahead of Giggs. His energy is priceless but his discipline in picking up and marking Nasri could make a huge difference. If dropping Carrick seemed harsh then dropping 5-goal-Berbatov would be a travesty. Yet, if it’s to be one up top it would take some balls to drop Rooney even if goals are still not arriving for him yet. Rooney as it happens likes Arsenal, he scored in both league fixtures last year; and he scored his first league goal, his first league goal for United and his 100th league goal against Arsenal.

What a 4-5-1 also does, is it allows for a positive move later on in the match. Should United need to find a goal or push for a win, a move to a 4-4-2 whilst opening up space for Arsenal to exploit would also allow for a more attacking style from United.

My favoured formation would be a 4-4-2 from the start. Bold and brave, this is the style that United are used to and have been playing in for most of this season. Playing at home, United are expected to go for the win, almost never do United enter into a league match at home with a change of style to accommodate the opposition. The expectation is that the opponents would change to accommodate United.

Whilst a 4-4-2 solves any selection dilemmas upfront (Rooney and Berbatov would almost certainly be the preferred partnership) – it makes the midfield issues bigger and for that reason I feel a 4-5-1 may be chosen. For starters only two central midfielders can be picked. I’ve chosen, based on form and a successful mini-partnership of late, Anderson and Carrick. However, Darren Fletcher’s tag as a ‘big game player’ would make him hard to leave out. Furthermore, Fletcher generally plays well against Arsenal and it’s known that they don’t like him. Leaving out Scholes would be a hard decision too – he is still one of the best midfielders in the league and his range of passing is second to none.

I’d still pick Nani and Park on the wings but what a 4 man midfield doesn’t do, is allow Park as much freedom to drift inside and won’t allow him to be as tight to Nasri as he’d like as Arsenal would always have a spare midfielder. This problem I feel might be the one to give a 4-5-1 the edge. A 4-4-2 does however have an advantage on the bench – there would be two excellent central midfielder to pick from to change a game and there would be little hierarchy in terms of which striker to bring on to change a game.

United’s league form is good. This is the first time that United have gone unbeaten in their opening 15 league games under Ferguson. The recent postponentment of the Blackpool game has allowed an extra bit of rest from the league for the team and they will be pumped for this game. Evra, Fletcher and Park have all had their say ahead of this game in an attempt to stoke the flames pre-match.

For the statisticians, there are some great stats and facts associated with this game. This will be the 43rd time Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have faced each other – Ferguson has won 17 times to Wenger’s 14, with 11 draws (two of which were then settled by penalties). Manchester United are unbeaten in their last five matches against Arsenal in all competitions, winning four. Arsenal have lost seven of their last nine trips to Old Trafford in league and cup and have failed to score more than one goal since 1985. One telling stat that Arsenal will look to change is their record in their last 10 games in all competitions against Man Utd and Chelsea, it reads: P10 W0 D1 L9 F5 A22!

Beyond the unbeaten run in the league, there are other stats and facts for United to be proud of – Manchester United have scored with one in five of their goal attempts, the best ratio in the Premier League; Rio Ferdinand has committed just one foul in 1040 minutes of Champions League and Premier League football this season; and if Rooney and Berbatov start together it might be a good omen – 10 of Dimitar Berbatov’s 11 Premier League goals this season have been scored with Wayne Rooney on the pitch.

This game is huge. A win for either team will provide key momentum going into the busy Christmas period as well as a chance to outright lead the league. Arsenal will not be too disappointed with a draw but make no mistake about it, United will have only the three points on their mind. I’m making a cautious prediction of 2-1 to United.

You can share with us your thoughts and your favourite moments from games at home to Arsenal on our forum.

In case anyone was wondering, I’ve not forgotten to include any history about this fixture, instead I wish to share it with you in the form of videos:

Feel free to follow me on Twitter