Arsenal and Man United both suffer key injuries ahead of weekend showdown

A match between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger is always guaranteed to be a crowd puller as the animosity between the Arsenal boss and his nemesis is bound to end in controversy every time. So this weekend’s mouthwatering fixture is even more important than usual with Man United sitting 4 points above us in 2nd place in the EPL.

Mourinho famously went years without losing to Wenger while he was at Chelsea, but his 2 visits to the Emirates with this United side have ended 3-0 and 2-0 to the Gunners, and with Arsenal’s incredible home form we should be confident of keeping that record. Mourinho’s habit of trying to park the bus against top teams in away games is certain to come into play, and so the injury to Alexandre Lacazette last night is a big blow to Arsenal’s chances of breaking down the United defence. As Wenger said last night: “Lacazette has a groin problem and will certainly be out for Saturday’s game.”

But Mourinho was also handed a blow during last night’s 4-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road, when Nemanja Matic was taken off in the 54th minute. The United boss sounded very worried after the game. “For Nemanja Matic to tell me he wants to be replaced, he does not do that if it’s nothing important. It is muscular,” Mourinho said.

United have already lost Marouane Fellaini in midfield, but Jose can still call on Pogba and Herrera to do a job as the bus drivers! Let’s all hope we can still find a way through without Lacazette….

Admin

14 Comments

    1. Admin: Mourinho wasn’t the manager at Man Utd when Arsenal beat them 3-0 at the Emirates in 2015. Louis van Gaal was.

  1. Jose is a creature of habit, and he doesn’t like to change what works for him. Hence, I reckon that Matic for United is a bigger loss than Lacazette for us. Sure, it’d be nice to unleash AOL on them, and hit them with speed, precision, and power but I think Welbeck is a fine choice to start this game, especially given his history of scoring some important goals for us when he plays against his old club.

  2. Manchester United:

    – Lost Fellaini and Matic, which means they lost two very tall players that Mourinho usually relies on to score from set pieces.

    – They still have many very tall players that can score easily from set pieces, such as Pogba, Bailly, Smailing, Jones, Lukaku, Lindelof, etc.

    – Knowing Mourinho’s tendency in his away matches against big teams, he would make Manchester United very defensive and prepared for quick counter-attacks.

    – Have longer rest time than Arsenal.

    Arsenal:

    – Lacazette, our prolific striker, is injured.

    – The players’ battle spirit will be boosted by the supporters at the Emirates.

    – Would use 3-4-2-1 formation that is generally less prone to quick counter-attacks than the shaky 4-2-3-1.

    – Have lesser rest time than Manchester United.

    Arsenal players’ energy would be the key to win this match. I think some players have already saved their stamina for this battle, based on some players’ performance in the Huddersfield match.

  3. Sanchez can dothe job, with Walcott and Welbeck on both flanks. We need speedy players to beat United. Then the weakest links will be Ramsey/Xhaka combination

    1. Fed up with so many doom and gloom merchants, why not embrace the fact we are 12 unbeaten at home, going into a match that could see the top 4 open a gap and push us towards champions league football again. That qualification and a decent spend might just see us hold on to 3 of our best players this summer. Sure we are unlikely to catch city, but we won’t be the only ones who don’t catch them, I can guarantee that.

  4. Is it possible that Wenger is trying to trick Utd and that LAcazette will make a miraculous recovery 10 mins b4 kick off??? Would be good if so but we actually have good squad depth this year with both Giroud (on form) and Welbz (always scores against Utd) I just pray wenger doesnt try and suprise everyone and put Sanchez or (god forbid) Walcott as CF

    1. He also tricked Huddersfield that Ozil was injured and there was miraculous Ozil recovery 10 minutes before kick off. He turned up as MoM and smashed them to bits. Master stroke from Wenger!! He is using the same trick with Laca and Utd

    2. God forbid, indeed! The thought of Walcott wearing our shirt and therefore playing United with ten men is horrible to consider. I am proud to be Walcotts most implacable foe and it is my dearest wish for Arsenal to see this fraud sold asap.

  5. It’s a real bonus for us that Utd will be without Matic. Players always seem to score against their old clubs, so I wouldn’t bet against Wellbeck scoring. Real shame about Lacazette because he’s easily our best striker, but we can get goals from elsewhere, especially if Ozil & Sanchez play well. Need to be very wary of getting caught on the counter in order to win this one.

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