After the frustration of their Barcelona defeat Arsenal have no time to wallow, facing a week that could be decisive in their hopes of remaining in the title race.
Ahead of match-ups with Swansea and Tottenham comes the small matter of a visit to Old Trafford. Manchester United may be lurching ever deeper into crisis under Louis van Gaal but Arsene Wenger has not won a league match at Old Trafford since 2006, back when Emmanuel Adebayor got the only goal.
Last season did see Arsenal go unbeaten in two games away to United and it was their trip to the north west for an FA Cup quarter-final tie that saw one of the most memorable moments of the Gunners’ season as Danny Welbeck scored a second-half winner on his first return to Old Trafford since being disposed of by Van Gaal.
The Longsight native has made an impressive return from a knee injury over recent weeks, scoring what could be a critical winning goal in Arsenal’s title challenge as they defeated league leaders Leicester 2-1, closing the gap at the top to just two points. Will Welbeck be given a chance to do it again?
Date, time and venue
Arsenal travel to Manchester United's Old Trafford for a 2:05pm kick-off on Sunday 28 February
Last five matches
Arsenal 0 Barcelona 2 (February 23)
Arsenal 0 Hull 0 (February 20)
Arsenal 2 Leicester 1 (February 14)
Bournemouth 0 Arsenal 2 (February 7)
Arsenal 0 Southampton 0 (February 2)
Team news and probable line ups
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the major casualty of Tuesday’s loss to Barcelona, his knee injury from a tough collision with Javier Mascherano certainly ruling him out of the game and potentially keeping out of the side for up to two months.
Centre-back Gabriel could give Wenger a selection headache if he returns to full fitness in time for Sunday’s match; the Brazilian had been preferred to Per Mertesacker in recent games but the German has raised his game in his team-mates absence.
Van Gaal is struggling to deal with an injury list that will almost certainly still be in double figures on Sunday. Certain absentees include Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ashley Young whilst Anthony Martial, David de Gea and Chris Smalling are all doubts.
Manchester United starting XI: De Gea, Varela, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Lingard, Mata, Depay, Rashford
Arsenal starting XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Campbell, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck
What they’re saying
Per Mertesacker: “There is always something positive we can take [from Barcelona loss] and we go to Manchester United because we want to compete in the Premier League.
“We are in a good position and we don’t want to give that position up. It is a great chance to get the focus back on the Premier League and forget what happened in the last 20 minutes and just focus on what went well.”
who will come out top at old trafford?
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