By Danong and 1970s Gooner
Arsenal will host Manchester United tonight at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners enter this match on a three-game winning streak, having defeated Nottingham Forest (3-0), Sporting CP (1-5) and West Ham (2-5).
**The Red Devils enter this game on a 5-game unbeaten streak, with four victories and one draw.
It's unnecessary to worry about United's form as a Gooner. The Red Devils have not won at the Emirates since 2017 and the head-to-head record in the last 5 games for this fixture favours Arsenal.
Arsenal: 4 wins
Man Utd: 1 win
Draws: 0
Arsenal, who are aiming to win the league, will be hoping to keep their decent record against Manchester United going. Notably, only a win is enough for Arsenal's title hopes; a draw is equivalent to a loss.
In the title race, Liverpool leads the Gunners by 9 points; coach Mikel Arteta and the boys need to close that gap. Yes, the Reds must drop points to lose control of the title race, but Arsenal must also continue to win in order to capitalise on any Liverpool slips.
Before we go into the starting lineup, can we talk about the injury updates?**
**Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White as we know will miss the game. We anticipate Gabriel Magalhaes, who was unable to complete the West Ham match, to be fit and the same goes for Calafiori.
But will Mikel Merino (knee injury) and Thomas Partey (muscle injury) play in that game? When asked if the two midfielders were available, Arteta hinted they may be saying they all wanted to play.
On injury updates, the Arsenal boss said, “We are going to have a meeting this afternoon. “We had to monitor and keep a few away from some activities. I know they all want to play."
I believe that Partey is more likely to play than Merino. It appears that Partey's problem is likely to clear up and he will be available to play.
** If Partey is fit, I'd start him; he'll be in Arsenal's strongest lineup for this game.
**Other than Partey, Gabriel Martinelli, who hasn't been playing much lately, deserves to start against United; his pace could be a bother for fullback Diogo Dalot, exposing United's left wing.
So Arsenal's predicted lineup for the Manchester United clash:
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori
Partey, Rice, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
However if Gabriel is not fit then Kiwior will come in his place as he did well when he came on at West Ham.
If Calafiori is out then this poses a more tricky problem. Arteta will have three viable options.
Play Partey at right back and move Timber at left back. This will have the knock on effect of having to bring in Jorginho in midfield. Can he play twice in four days? Can Nwaneri be given his first start instead?
However are two other obvious replacements at left back if Calafiori is not available.**
Zinchenko and the forgotten man Tierney. Choosing one of these two instead of Partey will allow for the minimum disruption in the back line and in midfield.
We believe that Tierney should start. He is a better defender and he is likely to sit back in order to allow Timber to go forward and create havoc on the right hand side along with Odegaard and Saka.
**So the line up if both Gabriel and Calafiori are out should be:
Raya
Timber Saliba Kiwior Tierney
Partey Odegaard Rice
Saka Havertz Martinelli**
If you have other ideas we will be pleased for you to suggest them.