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Confirmed Arsenal team to face Man Utd – Martinelli on the bench

Arsenal travel to Old Trafford with their sights set on maintaining their title challenge and this is the team Mikel Arteta has selected.

Arsenal team news v Man Utd

The Gunners enter this fixture in fine form, having thrashed PSV Eindhoven 7-1 in their midweek Champions League match. Despite trailing league leaders Liverpool by 16 points, Arsenal boast the second-best goal difference in the Premier League at +28, underlining their potent attack and resolute defence.

Arsenal’s away form has been particularly impressive this season, with seven wins, five draws, and only two losses on their travels. They’re currently enjoying a nine-match unbeaten streak away from home, their last defeat coming against Newcastle United in November 2024.

In stark contrast, Manchester United find themselves languishing in 15th place, a position that accurately reflects their disappointing campaign. The Red Devils have struggled to string together consecutive victories in the league, with their goal difference of -6 further highlighting their difficulties.

At Old Trafford, United’s form has been patchy at best, managing just six wins in 14 Premier League home fixtures this season. However, they’ll be buoyed by their recent 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town, which ended a three-match winless streak.

The recent history between these two sides heavily favours Arsenal. The Gunners have won their last four Premier League matches against United, outscoring them 9-3 in the process. Their most recent encounter in December saw Arsenal emerge victorious with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

In their last six league matches, Arsenal have won three, drawn two, and lost one, while United have won two, drawn one, and lost three. This disparity in form suggests that Arsenal will be confident of extending their winning run against the Red Devils.

As Arsenal look to cement its place in next season’s Champions League and potentially keep the pressure on Liverpool, Manchester United will be desperate to give their fans something to cheer about in what has been a challenging campaign. With the contrasting fortunes of these two sides, Sunday’s clash at Old Trafford promises to be an intriguing encounter.

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106 Comments

  2. Heard about Martinelli pictured with the squad. Nice to have some option off the bench. Now we await Saka return which probably comes on the 1st April, though with the league title over and a top 4 pretty much secured we can afford to be very cautious with him. Getting him ready for Madrid will be the goal.

  4. Glad to see the return of our best inverted LW

    We’ll need his pace and skills to play against Madrid’s finest, so he must regain his match-fitness soon by getting some minutes

  5. Good to have Martinelli back in the team. Should be a massive lift to the entire team

  6. Can’t remember the last time Arsenal is involved in a match of this magnitude and it seems to be generating less interest among fans.

    Not inconsequential though, as it is vital for a top two finish.

    Nothing but a win is expected.

  13. Did i just see lindelof grabbing Merino by the throat while fighting for a floating ball?

  15. We are not more effective on corners now
    It looks like teams have found out how to stop our corners

  16. Utd are terrible
    And we can’t do the business at the business end of the pitch. I am getting deja vu symptoms from the Cup game At least it won’t go to penalties

    2. They may be terrible Sue, but they only need to score once which they’ve just done which means we’ll struggle even more to break them down.

    3. And my husband said Fernandez wouldn’t be able to score from out there, and I said he could ….and he did.

      1. Unfortunately it was written in the Stars. Still a half to go but we need to change things up as trying to walk the ball into the net ain’t gonna work although I hope I’m wrong.

        1. Bryan,
          There is a fear anywhere near the box. You are so right – I had hoped the ‘walking the ball into the net’ was dead and buried.

  20. I’ve said it before and i will say it again. Artetaball is shite. That is shameful against a frankly poor utd team. Embarrassing. So negative and slow. Always the same. No running, safety first and shite.

  21. Classic man u vs arsenal, we’ve seen this match for the last 2 decades. We keep possession, try and fail to break them and get sucker punched. Now imagine without our 4 best forwards.

  23. We’re likely a toothless lion. This game proves stats mean nothing. Completely one-sided and still losing. My oh my what a bad kistake not bringing in striker. If we had a decent striker we would be challenging for the EPL!

      1. What else can u expect from haters?
        What team will not massively struggle without the 4 best forwards. Liverpool wouldn’t even be 1st if salah got injured like saka. Same for City last 2 seasons without Haaland.

            1. @Reggie
              I hear you My Gooner. Especially after watching the way we went about taking care of business against PSV. Totally anti climactic.

    2. Please explain as I thought we all could have an opinion without the “grow up” stupid comment

  25. Getting beaten by the worst man utd side since the early 70s. We don’t look like scoring 1 goal let alone 2 but as always we Arsenal fans live in hope but what crap the 1st half has been

  26. Doesn’t matter who Arsenal play now. The setup against them is always the same. Give up possession, defend 10 deep, arsenal too slow with build up play and don’t have offensive players to break down opposition, counter/set piece goal against them, lose or tie game. Crazy how it’s always the same recipe. I am excited for the summer. 2-3 top attacking players and we’re set

  27. Toothless is the right word. Merino who is non existent is excused for being played out of position when the reality is that he shouldn’t be wearing an Arsenal shirt. A striker, a striker a striker. Even if Saka had been playing we would have been in a similar situation, Odegaard to Saka, Odegaard to Saka in spite of the fact that our no 7 is tightly marked and has nowhere to go. Feel sorry for Nwaneri today. Expected to perform Houdini like miracles. Wouldn’t be surprised if Obi comes on and scores just to rub it in.

  28. @admin

    What did I say to get moderated?

    As far as I am aware I have broken none of the sites rules.

    1. I said the better team always wins.
    2. Let’s not make excuses already.
    3. Pointless game where I agreed with someone, now mathematically we could still win league but let’s be honest it is pretty much done and dusted. It does not take a rocket scientist = meaninglesa game into title charge

  33. But this game is meaningless for Arsenal
    We are already lost the season
    And most probably we will be out of the CL in QF

    1. Correct about meaningless and probably about CL as well. In cup competitions anything can happen so maybe we get lucky against one of the Madrids

  34. We’re still knocking on their front door but increasingly leaving our back door open for them to grab a 2nd goal. Is this one of those next goal wins scenarios.

  35. I was just thinking back to Olivier Giroud and being called a lamp post.

    Well, what would we not do to have him here today.

  36. This game is, was about pride. We’ll come out of it looking like the emperor’s new clothes once again. Second best.

  37. The good news is the teams below us have not exactly been any better than us so hopefully CL football again next season

  38. Why not invite united to press, we certainly struggle to break down low or mid blocks, United have swallowed their pride and chosen today to be fully organized. Worst case play on the counter with Nelli, why is there no plan B, just tossing the ball around in front of the 18.

  42. How have we not gotten a penalty in this match with the amount of fouls united did? Taylor doing his boss webb proud.

  43. What irritates me is these penalties not given would be a free kick anywhere else on the field of play.

    1. May be Rice

      Not sure about Raya’s positioning for United’s first goal. I thought that was a bit too bad as we could have won without it

      1. Good point but with the benefit of hindsight we were hopeless in front of goal until Rice scored

  45. I have to say, I am going to kiss Tierney.

    They best LB we have had since Cole. A pity injuries robbed him of more games.

      1. We were awful today simply awful, nowhere to hide and it does show how limited Arteta is
        1. We need a goal so he brings on a full back
        2. 2 minutes to go and we are still playing it out from the back
        3. No idea how to change things up wen we need more urgency
        But what do I know, as I have supported the club for 64 years and have never been more disappointed in them than this season

        1. Point 3 is a bit harsh Perry. I can safely say I have seen worse/disappointing seasons than this.

    3. Thpugh not guilty of trying his best, he missed some good chances that came his way.

      Not his faulty that our recruitment last summer lacked determination to win anything

    1. Negative football from us so a draw is good i think. Way too many backwards and sideways passing from us as usual which is why we ultimately failed to win.

      1. GunnerRay
        Within a minute of kick off, you could see the direction of travel. Slow and patient but no killer instinct.

  48. I’m over Odegaard missing these easy chances. Rolled perfectly to his preferred foot, inside the box, no pressure and kicks it pathetically to the goalkeeper. He’s cost us so many points/wins because of this. If he doesn’t step up offensively next year he has to go. Just look at what Bruno does for United offensively in the same role and you can see Odegaard doesn’t come close

  49. While Raya’s positioning was responsible for the first goal, he may have somewhat redeemed himself with that stoppage time save

  50. Forgetting the frustrations of what should have been had the two men involved with player recruitment done their job this was as enjoyable a half of football I’ve watched this season. End to end thrills and spills. Having said that our set pieces coach really earned his money today, didn’t he?

    1. For the neutral, the second half was indeed as you’ve described
      As for the set piece corners , we’ve been sussed and he needs to come up with something new- an effective throw in springs to mind

      1. Sue, I’m reading that Taylor set the wall over a yard further back than necessary at Man U’s goal free kick. That’s really poor from him.

        1. Yes he did. Eriksen on MU has even admitted that the distance was not correct. How can a PL ref scr..up something so basic? Incredible.

          1. None of them get it correct by pacing the distance. There should be a more accurate way of measuring this.

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