Man Utd start this game as narrow favourites after returning to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Swansea last time out. But they face a fierce challenge in trying to beat an Arsenal team that have not lost since the opening day of the season.
On that day, Arsenal started with Rob Holding and Calum Chambers at centre-half and was duly beaten 4-3 by Liverpool, who have gone on to top the table. But since Laurent Koscielny returned from injury and partnered new signing Shkodran Mustafi in defence, nobody has been able to beat Arsenal. In previous seasons they have been labelled flat track bullies that can annihilate the small teams but always lose against the big boys. Not so this season: they battered Chelsea 3-0 and secured a 1-1 draw away at PSG. That followed wins over Man City and Man Utd in recent times – they destroyed Man Utd last time they visited Old Trafford – showing they are finally made of sterner stuff, with fighters like Francis Coquelin finally providing some steel to match the undoubted artistry.
For that reason, it is hard to back a Man Utd win. They have beaten Arsenal just once in their last four meetings, and Arsene Wenger will be desperate to prove he is no “specialist in failure” when he comes up against his nemesis Jose Mourinho. The self-proclaimed Special One has not been so special of late and his side trail Arsenal by six points in the league, while they are eight points behind leaders Liverpool. Five wins from 11 games are not title winning form, and they are struggling in Europe too. This is despite spending an absolute fortune in the summer. It clearly wasn’t enough. Paul Pogba is a very good player, but he cannot rescue Man Utd alone. Fellow summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan cannot get a game for love nor money, and Eric Bailly has suffered injury, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic has endured a dreadful goal drought. Despite all their spending, Man Utd still look four or five players short of winning the title. Defence is a big problem: with the likes of Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind at centre-half they are always liable to concede. And with Ibrahimovic misfiring, Wayne Rooney well out of sorts and Marcus Rashford unable to carry the team forever, they are lacking the goals to outscore their opponents. They have struggled in the big games too: Chelsea, who lost hands down to Arsenal, went on to beat Man Utd 4-0. They earned a hard fought draw with Liverpool but were second best throughout when they lost the Manchester Derby to Pep Guardiola’s Man City.
Man Utd are 2.70 to win this – Betway is offering the best price – but that looks risky given their recent form. Arsenal are 2.75 with Bet365 and the draw is 3.30, and both of those options look more interesting. When Arsenal turn it on they are unplayable at the moment and if Alexis Sanchez returns from Chile 100% fit (a big if, granted) then he will cause all sorts of problems for the Utd backline, with Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott bursting forwards with pace and guile, and Olivier Giroud offering a different option off the bench.
Arsenal draw no bet looks like a good option at 2.08 with Marathon Bet. Another way to go would be Arsenal-draw double chance at 1.55 with green listed bookmaker Bet365, but if Sanchez is in the starting line-up you might be tempted to take the plunge on Arsenal draw no bet and hope for a repeat of last season, when Arsenal was 3-0 up and cruising by half-time.
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