Preview: Liverpool welcome Manchester City in high-stakes clash
Goals, goals and some more goals are a guarantee when Manchester City travel to Anfield in the English Premier League!
A Premier League classic is on the cards when Manchester United host their in-form rivals Arsenal on Saturday at Old Trafford.
While the clubs have a storied rivalry, their respective managers are known to publicly despise each other, a fact that just adds fuel to the fire.
Arsene Wenger has fared poorly against his counterpart Jose Mourinho, but there is a general consensus that this may just be the time when he sets the record straight.
Manchester United
In a strange place at the moment, having spent great deals of money in the summer and have got a box-office manager at the help, Manchester United are still struggling in sixth place after 11 games played.
Worryingly, they have been extremely poor against direct rivals, losing to Manchester City and Chelsea while drawing against Liverpool.
Goals haven’t exactly been flowing in and despite Jose Mourinho’s attention to defence, they haven’t exactly kept a tight ship at the back.
Against Arsenal, they will be missing the Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is suspended, which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The likes of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford have been waiting for a chance to be unleashed and could thrive against an Arsenal backline
Wayne Rooney is ‘fit’ to start, but whether Mourinho wants to start him is a different matter all together. Their 4-2-3-1 formation should see either Martial or Rashford at the tip of attack, with the likes of Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata playing a supporting role.
In midfield £100 million man Paul Pogba is the one to watch out for, slowly but surely beginning to justify his mammoth fee. He is another player in the underperforming Red Devils squad who needs to show up when his team needs him most.
The defence is the worst-hit with injuries as Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly certain to miss out and in their stead, the erratic duo of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones will slot in. Luke Shaw is an injury doubt, as in Antonio Valencia so Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian could see some playing time while the almost-impregnable David de Gea remains the de facto goalkeeper for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Arsenal
The Gunners have been impressive in all departments, scoring at will while keeping a healthy balance between defence and attack.
After an opening day-loss to Liverpool, they have been going great guns (Pun unintended), Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil being effervescent in attack.
They have a deep reserve of talent at their disposal, which has allowed Arsene Wenger to rotate his midfield at will. Granit Xhakha and Francis Coquelin are impressive as the midfield anchors, proving to be a big shield in the middle of the pitch.
Arsenal have suffered a big blow with the news of Hector Bellerin’s injruy and the fast full-back’s absence is not to be taken lightly, such is his importance. His replacement, Matheiu Debuchy is past his prime, and could be exposed to United’s pace on the flanks.
However, the rest of the Arsenal back-line is pretty solid, and with Petr Cech in goal they will feel confident of keeping a stuttering United attack at bay.
Super Stat: Jose Mourinho has never lost a Premier League meeting against Arsenal, winning five and drawing six of his previous 11 meetings with the North Londoners.
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