Arsenal vs Manchester United (The Emirates)
Team news
Arsenal
The gunners will be without club-record signing, Alexandre Lacazette when they welcome Premier League rivals Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The France international was forced off at half-time in Wednesday’s 5-0 victory over Huddersfield due to a groin injury and manager Arsene Wenger has ruled him out of the game against the Red Devils.
A hamstring problem also saw Alexis Sanchez substituted in the Huddersfield win but Wenger is more optimistic over his availability while Alex Iwobi (leg) could also be back in contention. Santi Cazorla (Achilles) is a long-term absentee.
Likely squad: Cech, Ospina, Mertesacker, Holding, Koscielny, Mustafi, Chambers, Monreal, Debuchy, Bellerin, Nelson, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Iwobi, Walcott, Sanchez, Welbeck, Giroud.
Manchester United
Manchester United will be without Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Marouane Fellaini for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, while midfielder Nemanja Matic is a doubt.
Injury has sidelined defensive pair Jones (thigh) and Bailly for the last four matches, and Fellaini for the last one, Tuesday’s 4-2 win at Watford.
Fellow midfielder Matic is being assessed having come off in the second half at Vicarage Road with what boss Jose Mourinho has described as a muscular issue. Skipper Michael Carrick has been building his fitness after having a cardiac ablation to deal with an irregular heart rhythm.
Likely squad: De Gea, Romero, Lindelof, Rojo, Smalling, Valencia, Young, Darmian, Blind, Shaw, Tuanzebe, Pogba, Matic, Herrera, McTominay, Mata, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku, Ibrahimovic.
Stats
The gunners have lost just one of their last five Premier League home games against Manchester United (W2 D2), winning each of the last two without conceding a goal.
The Gunners have not won three successive home league games against United since May 1991.
No side has won more Premier League away games at Arsenal than Manchester United (seven, level with Liverpool), while only Chelsea (four) have won more at the Emirates than the Red Devils (three).
Arsenal have won their last four Saturday evening kick-offs at home in the Premier League, since a 1-2 defeat against Manchester United in November 2014.
United won at Watford in the midweek fixture, but haven’t been able to secure back-to-back away wins in the Premier League since a run of form in April.
Jose Mourinho hasn’t won any of his last 11 away league games against ‘big six’ opposition, since a 2-1 win at Liverpool in November 2014 (D5 L6), with his sides scoring just one goal in the last 10 such games.
This will be the 18th meeting between Arsene Wenger and Mourinho, with the Portuguese manager losing just two of these (W8 D7 L2). However, those two losses have come over the last four meetings (W1 D1 L2).
Mesut Ozil has been directly involved in four goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Manchester United (two goals, two assists).
ARSENAL VS MAN UNITED
Kick-off time
5.30pm (Saturday)
Referee
Andre Marriner
Odds (subject to change)
Arsenal 31/20
Draw 5/2
Manchester United 43/20
Recent league form (last six games)
Arsenal: WWLWWW
Manchester United: LWLWWW
Head-to-head (last five meetings)
Arsenal: 2
Draw: 2
Manchester United: 1
