Preview: Chido Obi to play a part against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday? Hojlund offering nothing so a place on the bench beckons!

Manchester United -v- Arsenal

Premier League

Old Trafford, Manchester

Sunday 9 March 2024, KO 16:30 GMT

Manchester United return to Premier League football at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday afternoon as they welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford. Ruben Amorim’s side will need to bounce back from some bad form in the league after seeing themselves knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup last weekend.

United drew 1-1 with Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg on Thursday evening, which keeps them in the competition until next Thursday at least with all to play for at the Theatre of Dreams. United have a major injury crisis one again and a problem. with the ability of scoring goals.

Arsenal sit second in the Premier League but are 13 points off the league leaders Liverpool. United sit in 14th place with 33 points, 21 short of Arsenal. United will need to get a flurry of wins under their belts between now and the end of the season or this will be the worst season United have endured in the English top flight.

United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Sociedad 1-1 D, Fulham 1-1 (4-3) L, Ipswich 3-2 W, Everton 2-2 D, Spurs 1-0 L, Leicester 2-1 W

Goals: 11 – Bruno Fernandes, 9 – Amad, 8 – Alejandro Garnacho, 7 – Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, 6 – Joshua Zirkzee, 4 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Casemiro, Harry Maguire, 2 – Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, 1 – Antony, Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte

Assists: 13 – Bruno Fernandes, 7 – Amad, Alejandro Garnacho, 4 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford, 2 – Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee, 1 – Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte

Arsenal – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

PSV 7-1 W, Forest 0-0 D, West Ham 1-0 L, Leicester 2-0 W, Newcastle 2-0 L, City 5-1 W

Goals: 15 – Kai Havertz, 9 – Bukayo Saka, 8 – Ethan Nwaneri, 7 – Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, 5 – Gabriel Magalhães, Mikel Merino, Martin Ødegaard, 3 – Riccardo Calafiori, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, 2 – William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, 1 – Jorginho, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Raheem Sterling

Assists: 13 – Bukayo Saka, 8 – Declan Rice, 7 – Martin Ødegaard, 5 – Kai Havertz, 4 – Gabriel Martinelli, 3 – Thomas Partey, 2 – Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior, Mikel Merino, Raheem Sterling, Jurrien Timber, 1 – Gabriel Magalhães, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard, Ben White

Previous Meetings & Connections

United and Arsenal have met 65 times in the Premier League. United have won 26 times, drawn 18 times and lost 21 times. United scored 88 goals against Arsenal, winning eight penalties, scoring five. Arsenal scored 76 goals against United, winning five penalties, scoring three. United needs to beat Arsenal in the league this season.

United have kept 17 clean sheets in this fixtures with Arsenal keeping 21. This is a fiery clash over the years with discipline being an issue. United players have been shown 135 yellow cards and five red cards with Arsenal players shown 136 yellow cards and four red cards. Arsenal are strong but still not capable of winning the Premier League.

Paddy Sloan, David Herd, Ian Ure, George Graham, Jimmy Rimmer, Brian Kidd, Frank Stapleton, Viv Anderson, Jim Leighton, David Platt, Andy Cole, Mikael Silvestre, Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck, Henrikh Mkhitarayan, Alexis Sanchez and Chido Obi-Martin have all played for both United and Arsenal.

Team News

United: United still have many injury worries ahead of the clash with Arsenal and will miss Patrick Dorku for the second domestic match following his red card against Ipswich Town. United will have to bring in plenty of youth players to give options and keep the squad fresh this weekend.

Ruled Out: Lisandro Martinez (knee), Amad (ankle/foot), Luke Shaw (calf/shin/heel), Kobbie Mainoo (other), Mason Mount (thigh), Altay Bayindir (other) and Jonny Evans (lower back)

Doubts: Harry Maguire (knock) and Manuel Ugarte (knock)

Suspended: Patrick Dorgu (two matches)

Arsenal: Arsenal have many injury problems with some of their best players out of action, some for the remainder of the season which is a blow for them in the title race that, let’s be honest – they would not have won anyway. United need to challenge the North London club like they did in the FA Cup earlier this year.

Ruled Out: Gabriel Jesus (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kai Havertz (thigh), Gabriel Martinelli (thigh) and Bukayo Saka (thigh)

Doubts: None

Suspended: None

Predicted United Starting XI – 3-4-2-1

Onana;

Yoro, De Ligt, Maguire;

Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot;

Zirkzee, Garnacho;

Obi

Predicted Arsenal Starting XI – 4-3-3

Raya;

Timber, Saliba, Magalhães, Calafiori;

Ødegaard, Jorginho, Rice;

Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard

History, training and the lead up to the big match

United and Arsenal have met 242 times in the history of both clubs. United have won 102 times, drawing 50 times and losing 90 times. In the last four Premier League matches against Arsenal, United are winless losing all four matches. The last time they beat Arsenal was this season in the FA Cup, albeit on penalties.

United will need to dig deep and find a result against Arsenal or it is likely that they will be stuck at the bottom end of the Premier League table for the remainder of the season, which seems likely based on the current form of the club. United are unlikely to be relegated with 33 points and the top of the bottom three on 17 points.

But United need to be wary of their fate this season, which is set to be their worst season in the Premier League, in which they finished eighth last season. This season could be much worse than that. But still, United have had injuries and field some players who should be doing so much better but are failing massively.

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal

Written by Paul