Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday in the Premier League. The two teams have had rocky starts to the Premier League season with the hosts losing two of their five games and Arsenal losing three of their six games. Both teams won convincingly in Europe heading into this game, but their Premier League form is contrasting. Arsenal have lost both their last two league games, while Manchester United have won one and drawn one.
United haven’t defeated the Gunners in their last three Premier League games, losing two and drawing the other.
3 burning questions from the game between Manchester United and Arsenal
Will both teams play on the backfoot?
Manchester United had a tough clash last weekend too as they faced Chelsea at home. That game, surprisingly, ended in a goalless draw, with both teams choosing to play it cautiously. The Red Devils did up the ante in the second half, but could not breach the Chelsea defence.
It seemed like neither team wanted to lose the game so early in the season. That could be the case this weekend too between Manchester United and Arsenal. Both sides have already lost and are off the pace from the top 6 of the league and will not want to lose more points to the teams above them. This could force them to defend deep and play on the backfoot.
Which formations will both managers choose?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have chopped and changed their formations since taking charge of their respective teams. Both of them have played a three-man defence and a four-man defence, as well as making numerous variations in midfield and attack.
Arteta employed a three-man backline in his last two games against Leicester City in the Premier League and Dundalk in the Europa League. Solskjaer, meanwhile, played his standard 4-2-3-1 formation against Chelsea and then changed it around significantly by playing a diamond midfield against RB Leipzig. The Norwegian had played a five-man defensive line against PSG. It will be interesting to see which way these two managers go formation-wise on Sunday.
Can Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and co. expose Manchester United’s defence?
Manchester United have improved significantly defensively since their thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season. In the four games following that 6-1 defeat, United have conceded just two goals – one against Newcastle United and the other against Paris Saint-Germain.
The defensive flaws that were exposed by the likes of Spurs, Crystal Palace, and Brighton have, for the moment, been sealed by the Manchester United defence. But, Arsenal have the necessary tools with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka possessing the speed and direct running to cause trouble for the inconsistent United defence led by Harry Maguire.
