RUMOURS: Alexis buyer revealed Arsenal’s hopes of securing a top four spot are hanging by a thread and defeat to Mourinho’s men at Emirates Stadium would leave them eight points behind fifth-placed United, almost certainly ending their chances of playing in the Champions League next season. Wenger’s fierce rivalry with Mourinho adds another layer of interest to the game and the Portuguese has faced Arsenal without losing more times in the league than he has any other side - a record he’ll be confident of maintaining on Sunday even if he’s expected to rest a host of first team stars.
ARSENAL INJURIES
Granit Xhaka faces a late fitness test on an ankle injury sustained during the game against Tottenham on Sunday. Despite returning to full training, Shkodran Mustafi is unlikely to play against United due to his lack of match practie.
Wright ridicules ‘incompetent’ Arsenal “We still have Granit Xhaka out from the kick he got in the game. Mustafi’s back in normal training. That’s basically it,” confirmed Wenger in his pre-match press conference. Wantaway forward Lucas Perez is another player back in contention although Wenger revealed in his press conference that the game will come too soon for the Spaniard. French youngster Jeff Reine-Adelaide is ruled out until the end of the season with an ankle injury, with Santi Cazorla another long-term absentee.
ARSENAL SUSPENSIONS
Arsenal have no players suspended for this match.
ARSENAL POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Danny Welbeck could start up front against his former club as Wenger looks to make changes from the 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane.Wenger unsure over Ozil mentality The 3-4-2-1 formation saw Arsenal go on a run of three consecutive victories before the north London derby loss and if Wenger decides to stick with the same tactics, then a return in defence for Rob Holding could shore up that area of the Gunners team. Xhaka faces a late fitness test on an ankle injury and if he doesn’t make it then Mohamed Elneny remains the most likely candidate to partner Aaron Ramsey in central midfield.
MAN UTD DOSSIER
“He doesn’t need to [make peace]. He doesn’t need to because there are no problems,” Mourinho told a pre-match press conference. “In the last match at Old Trafford we shook hands before, after. I remember that I still met him in the corridor for the press conferences, we shook hands again. He doesn’t need to make peace."
Ozyakup to snub Arsenal for Besiktas stay
Jose Mourinho knows he can all but end Arsenal’s top four hopes with a win on Sunday despite claims that he’ll play a weakened team following United’s Thursday night Europa League travails in Spain. David de Gea, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Anthony Martial are likely to return to the starting line-up, while defender Eric Bailly is expected to be rested after starting 12 straight games since the middle of March.
Axel Tuanzebe, Scott McTominay and Matty Willock could all be in contention for places on the bench but Marcus Rojo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luke Shaw are ruled out through season-ending injuries.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is their top scorer with 28 goals this season.
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates last season is their only win in 11 Premier League games against them (D4 L6). Manchester United haven’t lost consecutive away Premier League games against Arsenal since November 2001. Arsene Wenger’s only previous win as Arsenal manager against Jose Mourinho came in the 2015 Community Shield - he’s never prevously beaten him in the Premier League before (W0 D7 L5). Indeed, Jose Mourinho has faced Arsenal without losing more times in the Premier League than he has any other side (12 - W5 D7 L0). Alexis Sanchez needs just one goal to register his best-ever return from a single campaign in Europe’s big five leagues (currently on 19, tied with 2013/14 for Barcelona). Wayne Rooney has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal than any other player in Premier League history (11).
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
Kick-off is at 16:00 BST on Sunday, 7 May and the match is being broadcast on Sky Sports 1 in the UK.
title: “Arsenal Team News Injuries Suspensions And Line Up Vs Manchester United” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Patricia Garner”
Manchester United and Jose Mourinho are in town on Saturday as the Portuguese faces his arch rival Arsene Wenger in a crunch league clash at Emirates Stadium.
“Man Utd are a dangerous team, they have made fantastic results so to beat a team like that you need to be at your best and that’s what I want to focus on,” said Wenger ahead of the game. A recent turn of fortunes has seen Arsenal record impressive victories over Tottenham, Burnley and most recently Huddersfield who the Gunners scored five past. The Gunners haven’t won three successive home league games against United since May 1991 but will be confident of getting a positive result on Saturday after their recent run of form.
ARSENAL INJURIES
Alexandre Lacazette will miss Saturday’s match with a groin injury sustained during the 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield.
Chile star Alexis Sanchez had a hamstring problem against Huddersfield Town but should be fit for the weekend. “Look, we have offensive weapons, you know. We have Welbeck, we have Giroud, we have Wilshere who all came on,” said Wenger.
“They are all offensive players. I will see what I do for Saturday but ideally you wanted him [Lacazette] there.” Spanish midfield maestro Santi Cazorla remains a long-term absentee with an Achilles injury and recently suffered another setback in his recovery which saw him undergo surgery for ninth time.
ARSENAL SUSPENSIONS
Arsenal have no players suspended for this game.
ARSENAL POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Wenger is likely to field Alexis up front in place of the injured Lacazette while he faces a choice between Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck in the front three, although the latter remains more likely to start against his former club with Mesut Ozil starting in the No.10 role. Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac will start in the wing back slots and the back three of Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal will remain unchanged.
MAN UTD TEAM NEWS
Mourinho is likely to deploy a three-man defence for the game on Saturday while Zlatan Ibrahimovic could make his first start since injury.
Romelu Lukaku has scored just once in his last 11 games in all competitions and may find himself starting on the bench for the first time this season. United won their last league match against Watford on Tuesday and have three successive league wins to their name going into Saturday’s match
Lukaku is the club’s top goalscorer this season having scored 11 goals.
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
Arsenal have lost just one of their last five Premier League home games against Manchester United (W2 D2), winning each of the last two without conceding a goal. The Gunners have not won three successive home league games against the Manchester United since May 1991. No side has won more Premier League away games at Arsenal than Manchester United (7, level with Liverpool), while only Chelsea (4) have won more at the Emirates than the Red Devils (3). This will be the 18 th meeting between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, with the Portuguese manager losing just two of these (W8 D7 L2). However, those two losses have come over the last four meetings (W1 D1 L2). . Mesut Özil has been directly involved in four goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Manchester United (two goals, two assists). Mesut Ozil has assisted Olivier Giroud 14 times in the Premier League – only two players have assisted another more often for Arsenal in the competition (Robert Pires to Thierry Henry, 17 and Thierry Henry to Freddie Ljungberg, 15). Olivier Giroud has scored 16 goals as a substitute in the Premier League, the fourth highest tally in the competition (Jermain Defoe 23, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Kanu 17).
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
The match is being televised on BT Sport in the UK while NBC will carry the match in the United States, with kickoff at 19:45 GMT.
Watch Arsenal vs Man Utd in the US live and On-Demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
