Manchester United vs Arsenal is for me, the most difficult game on the domestic calendar. It is the most nerve racking and sometimes downright depressing.
This season’s tie will have an added edge due to the appearance of the player who so famously left last season, apparently for ‘footballing reasons’.
Famous rivalry
Over the years the rivalry between Man U and us can be seen in terms of key battles. Whether it be Fergie vs Wenger or Keane vs Vieira, these battles have always been there to add a bitter taste to a massive game.
This year the battle will take a slightly different form, Robin Van Persie vs the Arsenal fans. No doubt Van Persie was a superb servant to the club and is undoubtedly the biggest reason for our league position last season. However, seeing our star player and captain go to them of all people, has wounded fans deeply and is for many an unforgivable act.
There’s no question he will be booed throughout the game but I have my reservations as to whether this will stop him scoring. In fact, I can’t look past a scenario in which he does.
A muted celebration will no doubt add to the pain, as it is simply too late to show affection to a club that he so readily walked away from.
The formbook
There are in my mind, two different viewpoints that can be taken on who has the upper hand coming into tomorrow’s game.
With regards to league form, Arsenal come into this game on the back of a highly depressing loss to strugglers Norwich, and a less than convincing one-nil victory against QPR who haven’t won all season.
On the other hand both clubs will be suffering very differing emotions after midweek madness. For Manchester United, heartache after being knocked out of the League Cup to rivals Chelsea. For Arsenal, sheer bewilderment and excitement, after knocking seven past reading.
These results will only have a mental impact as both teams fielded heavily weakened sides, so it is difficult to make any remarks about how particular players will feel coming into the game.
What Arsenal fans must remember is that yes, we scored 7, but we were 4-0 to Reading in what was potentially the worst Arsenal 30 minutes I have ever witnessed.
A worrying past
As I always do when writing these pre-match pieces, I looked back at the recent history between the two clubs; it did not make for fun reading. I don’t think much time needs to be given to the away tie last season, all I can say is that we are guaranteed improvement on that.
To find our last win at Old Trafford, we must cast our minds back 6 years to 2006 and a one-nil win courtesy of old favourite Adebayor. In the 11 league games since that victory, we have only taken 11 points from a possible 33.
Key men
For Arsenal to win tomorrow a supreme effort will have to be made by every player on the pitch, it’s that simple. It will not depend on any individual performance; the whole team needs to want it with every inch of their being.
One man who will be tasked with spurring this passion into existence will be Jack Wilshere. The phrase ‘like a new signing’ doesn’t do it for me; it’s more like welcoming back an old friend. Jack will be a source of inspiration for fans and players alike and needs to play accordingly.
For the Red Devils, there’s only one man who fits the bill as my key man for the week, RVP. In my opinion he has a responsibility to play appallingly to make up for the hurt he has caused (unfortunately I’m sure he will not feel the same way). He needs to be stopped, a big ask for the Arsenal defence.
One other area that we should be worried about is the Man U right-winger. Recent form suggests that Antonio Valencia vs Andre Santos = oh dear. Santos is having a torrid time of things as of late and with Gibbs still injured, this should be a real source of worry for us.
Likely line-up
Mannone, Santos, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Sagna, Walcott, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud
I’m not the most optimistic of fans, but I don’t think a win is that unlikely, Man U look shaky at the back and I can see a score draw being a real possibility.
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