Arsene Wenger must have been mightily relieved when the in form England striker Danny Welbeck passed his late fitness test and as expected, the Frenchman has stuck with the pacy and hard working front man instead of bringing back Olivier Giroud who has made an early return to fitness and is on the bench to face Manchester United today.
Louis van Gaal has had some good news of his own, with De Gea, Shaw and Di Maria all in the starting line up after their own injury concerns, but their back four still looks weak, and the Gunners will hope that it is the visitor’s defence rather than our own which is the most busy.
One surprise in the Arsenal line-up is that both our box to box midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere start, while the club captain Mikel Arteta also comes into the team after recovering from his little knock. So maybe Wenger is going for four midfielders in front of the Spaniard, with Alexis and the Ox offering pace and power on the flanks.
Szczesny
Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs
Arteta
Alexis, Ramsey, Wilshere, Chamberlain
Welbeck
subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Flamini, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud
There are plenty of attacking options on the bench for the Gunners, while United cannot really say the same and that could end ip making the difference, although we all hope that the result is sealed in our favour before that. But this could be a day when patience and nerves are the key factors. Come on Arsenal, you can do this!!