Arsenal v Manchester United: Team news & predictions

The game kicks off at 1600 BST at the Emirates Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1. 

Arsenal v Manchester United: Our prediction 

David John says: It is not too long ago this used to be one of the fixtures in the Premier League but it has to be said there is not a great deal of fanfare surrounding the latest renewal.

United, by the admission of Jose Mourinho, fancy the Europa League much more at the moment while Arsenal’s dizzying fall from grace since the turn of the year shows no sign of slowing down this side of oblivion.

It is the Gunners though who have been chalked up as relatively well-backed favourites at the Emirates after bookmakers reacted to the news Mourinho could sling any sort of combination on to the field in a bid to give some of his big names a rest.

To be honest, you can’t really blame him either. United have a precious one-goal lead from the away leg of the European semi-final against Celta Vigo while 10 games since the start of April and another round of injuries to deal with seems to have the playing staff flagging badly.

There is still plenty of depth at Old Trafford – certainly enough to be a match for Arsenal at the moment – and any theory on what the potential starting XI will be boosted by the return of Chris Smalling and Juan Mata from spells on the sideline.

A pacey and in-form Marcus Rashford was on target in northern Spain but ran himself into the ground before limping off so Anthony Martial seems the obvious replacement but the star of the show could well turn out to be Paul Pogba.

He was the driving force behind the midweek victory and has shown steady improvement back at Old Trafford all season.

It probably has not been quite as much as would have been expected for a player that cost the thick end of £90m but finding your feet under that sort of scrutiny still takes time and it will be next season before we see more like the finished article in England.

He certainly seems to be finishing the season strongly and has more than enough energy in his legs to keep up the surging runs from midfield into goal-scoring positions. 

A threat from set-pieces as well, the time has arrived for him to end a Premier League drought in front of goal stretching back to New Year’s Eve and the 5/1 on offer is very tempting.

Arsenal were outclassed without a doubt at White Hart Lane last week as they sunk to a 2-0 loss to their north London neighbours but there was also more than a hint of acceptance this season has gone beyond recall.

They are labouring six points off the top four at the time of writing with a game in hand and while manager Arsene Wenger seemed to just about cement his future at the club thanks to reaching the FA Cup final, their continued scratchy form in the top flight is a reminder the Frenchman might be better off elsewhere.

The layers clearly favour some sort of positive Arsenal response after the derby woe but Wenger has never got any change from Mourinho in a competitive clash. 

So I am inclined to agree with Roy Keane’s cheeky midweek assessment that the visiting second-stringers can still come out on top.

Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United   

Arsenal v Manchester United: Team news 

Arsenal are likely to be without Granit Xhaka for their Premier League clash at home to Manchester United on Sunday.

The Switzerland midfielder suffered a kick on his ankle which forced him off in last weekend's defeat to local rivals Tottenham and is not expected to recover in time to face the Red Devils.

David Ospina is fit following a back complaint, Shkodran Mustafi has returned to full training after a thigh injury but Lucas Perez (thigh) faces another game on the sideline after a slight setback. 

Jose Mourinho plans to rest tired Manchester United players.

Marcus Rashford could be one such player after he limped off after scoring in the Europa League semi-final first leg at Celta Vigo, where Ashley Young exited with an apparent hamstring complaint shortly after coming on.U

nited midfielder Marouane Fellaini is banned from domestic action, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Tim Fosu-Mensah are sidelined.

Teams

Arsenal (from): Cech, Ospina, Martinez, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Mustafi, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Maitland-Niles, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Walcott, Iwobi, Sanchez, Giroud. 

Manchester United (from): De Gea, Romero, Pereira, Bailly, Blind, Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Tuanzebe, Valencia, Young, Carrick, Herrera, Lingard, Mata, McTominay, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Willock, Martial, Rashford, Rooney. 

Arsenal v Manchester United: Manager quotes 

Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

Asked whether his relationship with Jose Mourinho has mellowed over time, Wenger replied: "Mellowed? Yes. We have respect.

"I think I try to respect everybody and I do not want to make a case of any person. I think it is important that I focus on my own team, the performance of my team and forget all the rest." 

When questioned on whether amicable ground could be found with Mourinho, he said: "I am open always in life for everything, you know, for peace.

"But what is important when you are a competitor is that you give absolutely everything to win the next game." 

Heading into this weekend, Arsenal are sixth with their visitors just a place above them in fifth, with Wenger admitting other clubs have now caught up with the duo: "It just shows that everybody has moved up.

"The number of clubs that can fight at the top is bigger this season and the difference between the teams is smaller. As soon as you are not at your best you can lose.

"It can as well go better from when I leave one day.

"You know, when you are such a long time at a club like I am, like Ferguson was, it is a little bit like when you have children. You want them to be happy. Even when you are not there anymore, you want them to be happy." 

On his future to Norwegian television channel TV2: "I am like everybody - I prefer to be loved than hated but I can take a distance with that.

"I know as well it is not the person itself, it is the fact the manager does not win the games. They want to win and I can make a difference in that.

"I don't take it too personally. In fact, I personally hate myself - the manager - more than anybody when I don't win the games. I am a very bad loser.

"People want to win."If you don't win the championship, the FA Cup, the Champions League, it is absolutely disastrous. But if you look back in the last three years, we won the FA Cup twice and finished second, third and fourth.

"We are in the FA Cup final again. Overall, I believe we are not happy because you want to win absolutely everything.

"But you have to accept as well that Real Madrid has not won their championship for five years. They are big clubs - it is difficult. Liverpool hasn't won it for over 20. Just because you turn up doesn't mean you win. It is difficult to win." 

Jose Mourinho (Manchester United)

On Arsene Wenger: "He doesn't need to (make peace)," Mourinho said. "He doesn't need to because there are no problems.

"In the last match at Old Trafford, we shook hands before, after. I remember that I still met him in the corridor for the press conferences, we shook hands again.

"He doesn't need to make peace. When there is peace, I don't have to have (a) problem."I am a big boy, I'm in football for all my life. I know that a problem on the pitch, the next day is not a problem anymore.

"So for me, no problem at all and I think he will be very, very pleased with me that I am going to change my team to play against Arsenal, so I think he'll be really happy with me!" 

On facing Arsenal: "We are going to try (to win).

"We are going to try, we are not going to Arsenal to say 'beat us', or 'beat us 5 or 6-0'. We are going there to fight for a result."But it's impossible like I cannot do it in another way.

"If Celta was playing with their best team, if Celta was fighting for important things in LaLiga, we would go in the same circumstances.

"But I cannot now play with the same team that played here, and then repeat again on the next Thursday.

"So, we have to be human with the players, we have to be sensible and common sense in relation to our situation in the Premier League.

"And I think the last match against Swansea was last our last chance to fight for top four, so I am going to rest players, yeah." 

On United's goalkeepers: "I don't like to say this competition is for one goalkeeper, that competition is for another one.

"Sergio (Romero) played one match in the Premier League, David played two matches in the Europa League against Fenerbahce and against Feyenoord.

"Sergio played also one match in the League Cup, David played the other matches and played the final. I don't like that complete separation.

"Sunday plays David (de Gea). We have two fantastic goalkeepers, we have a third goalkeeper that I think will be the best Portuguese goalkeeper of the next generation (Joel Pereira).

"We have great goalkeepers, and (against) anyone in the world I trust completely." 

On the potential to rest players against Arsenal: "The players that are in accumulation, the players that are with lots of minutes because we played nine matches in April and this one, so 10 matches in four-and-a-half weeks. The players that are in accumulation, they are not going to play next weekend." 

On Marcus Rashford's performance against Celta Vigo: "He worked really hard and created them problems. 

"He had a fantastic shot in the first half with that beautiful save.

"Then the free-kick is work - he works every day, he loves to work.

"Sometimes training session finishes for the group and he keeps doing his individual work with my assistant.

"The free-kick is really well taken and I think the goalkeeper has no chance because the ball is really fast." 

Arsenal v Manchester United: Opta facts 

Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates last season is their only win in 11 Premier League games against them (D4 L6). 

Manchester United haven’t lost consecutive away Premier League games against Arsenal since November 2001. 

Arsenal were 3-0 up against Manchester United in this exact fixture last season, with Alexis Sanchez scoring twice. This is the only time that the Red Devils have conceded three goals in the opening 20 minutes of a Premier League game.  

Sanchez is two goals away from scoring his 50th Premier League goal for Arsenal, becoming the eighth player to do this for the Gunners. 

Wayne Rooney has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal than any other player in Premier League history (11). 

Alexis Sanchez needs just one goal to register his best-ever return from a single campaign in Europe’s big five leagues (currently on 19, tied with 2013/14 for Barcelona). 

However, just six of Alexis Sanchez’s league goals have come at home this season in the Premier League (32%) despite playing at the Emirates on 16 occasions in 2016-17. 

This will be Arsene Wenger’s 58th match as Arsenal manager against Manchester United in all competitions. It’s the side the Frenchman has faced most often with the Gunners, but also the side he’s got the lowest win rate against (29% - minimum of 15 games). 

Wenger’s only previous win as Arsenal manager against Jose Mourinho came in the 2015 Community Shield – he’s never previously beaten him in the Premier League before (W0 D7 L5). 

Indeed, Jose Mourinho has faced Arsenal without losing more times in the Premier League than the has any other side (12 - W5 D7 L0). 

Manchester United have won their last two Premier League games in the capital – they last won three in a row in London in November 2014, with the third win in that run coming at the Emirates. 

Manchester United are now unbeaten in 25 successive Premier League matches (W13 D12) – a club record within a single top-flight season. Only seven teams have gone longer unbeaten in a single top-flight campaign, with Nottingham Forest’s 26-game unbeaten run in 1977-78 their next target.    

Arsenal v Manchester United: Sky Bet odds 

Manchester United have a wonderful record of just one loss in 13 games in all competitions, albeit most of those games ending in draws. As for Arsenal, they were humbled by bitter north London rivals Tottenham and it seems that finally Arsene Wenger will not be able to deliver Champions League football.  However, Jose Mourinho has claimed he may play some youngsters in this game in order to focus on the Europa League. Mind games or putting all his eggs in one basket? Strong team or not you’d expect the Portuguese’s team to put up a solid defensive performance away from home so there could be value in backing the stalemate.      

Click for Sky Bet's Arsenal v Manchester United odds!