Much has been made of Manchester United's Premier League contest with Arsenal and in the lead-up to the highly-anticipated encounter, there has been plenty of talk regarding how well Mikel Arteta's side would fare against Sir Alex Ferguson's imperious outfit from the 2008/09 season. Paul Scholes has revealed his combined XI between the two.
It was Theo Walcott who sparked the conversation into life by asking Wayne Rooney how the current side from north London – spearheaded by Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice – would do against a team the centre-forward was a key part of. "Yeah, we'd batter them," said Rooney.
Arteta – widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football – has turned Arsenal into a force to be reckoned with, but many draw the Spaniard out for his failure to win anything of note during his seven-year spell at the helm. They are enjoying their best season in 22 years, of course, but how does Scholes think they'd compete against United in their prime?
Paul Scholes Picked Two Arsenal Players in Combined XI Between Man Utd in 2008 and Mikel Arteta's Men
Paul Scholes
Of course, if you were to compare the English behemoth duo's teams now, it would be very Arsenal-heavy. They've placed second in three Premier League campaigns on the bounce and United, on the other hand, have struggled in a period of uncertainty regarding the club's ownership and the chopping and changing of who is in the dugout.
Scholes, however, has offered his take on the two Arsenal players who would be named in the combined XI. In between the sticks, Edwin van der Sar got the nod over David Raya, but it was Jurrien Timber taking up the right-back berth over Wes Brown. "Wes [Brown] was brilliant, more of a centre-half, but I'm going to go Timber. Sorry, Wes!" he said.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, a pairing who kept 70 clean sheets in 138 outings together, were picked over both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. Both Arsenal defenders put together compelling case to be the best around at the moment - but they don't touch the surface of what United's dymanic duo delivered, both in terms of trophies and moments.
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Patrice Evra, ahead of Riccardo Calafiori, completed a rather scary back line before Scholes, a midfielder during his playing days, entered the engine room with a pretty interesting take. While speaking to Sky, he snubbed himself in favour of England metronome Declan Rice – who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in football today.
Next to the box-to-box presence of Rice would be Michael Carrick, United's current interim manager, in the eyes of Scholes, Carlos Tevez, who is not well-remembered by the Old Trafford faithful because of his subsequent move to Manchester City, was picked ahead of Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.
The most obvious pick of all, Cristiano Ronaldo (who won his first-ever Ballon d'Or following the 2008/09 campaign) was picked ahead of Saka before Rooney took the cake in terms of Scholes' centre-forward pick, shunting a struggling Viktor Gyokeres to the side. None other than Ryan Giggs fulfilled the spot on the left flank over Leandro Trossard.
Watch Scholes' full selection process below:
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Both sides have something to play for. Flying high at the summit of the Premier League table, Arteta's men will be hoping for three points to extend their lead on nearest challengers Manchester City, who are currently four points behind the north Londoners. Elsewhere, Carrick and his interim staff could make it two from two after being Pep Guardiola's men last time out.
A change to a back four, combined with Harry Maguire's availability, could cause problems for Gyokeres – and their attacking force of Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko, Amad and Bryan Mbeumo have the chance to wreak havoc at the sharp end of the pitch. That said, Saliba and Gabriel will be ready in the heart of the defence.
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Liverpool losing 3-2 to Bournemouth yesterday opens up a spot in the top four if United are to win against the table-topping force of Arsenal, who opened this season's Premier League with a narrow 1-0 win over the Red Devils. On that occasion, the better team were on the receiving end of defeat, but what will this contest have in store? A lot of drama, we hope.