Manchester United vs Arsenal
Unai Emery takes his rampant Arsenal side to Old Trafford on Wednesday, to take on Manchester United in the midweek Premier League match of the round.
After the weekend’s Premier League 2018 results, the league table has a nice look for Arsenal fans and a worrying one for Red Devils. The Gunners are on cloud nine after a resounding win in the North London Derby, while a draw against bottom three side Southampton has left the Red Devils 16 points from the top, and eight from the fourth placed Gunners.
This is a crucial game for two sides which have a lot of work to do. The Premier League 2018 betting odds still have Arsenal as fifth favourites, one outside the coveted Champions League places, and Manchester United are completely out of the title race at odds of 401.00. But Jose Mourinho knows how important a top four place is to the club, and this is a chance to peg back one of their biggest rivals.
Talking Points
Jose is still searching for an answer
Say all you like about Mourinho’s third–season syndrome, but it appears to me that he hasn’t thrown the towel in on his difficult reign at Old Trafford just yet. But the form of his side poses more questions than he has answers for. The Manchester United players looked totally lost in the first half hour of their 2-2 draw against Southampton, and it’s not the first time it’s happened this season.
The gulf in class between United and the best teams in the league was all too apparent in the Manchester Derby, when the Red Devils were swept aside by the champions. But then his team showed amazing spirit to hang on against Juventus in the Champion League and snatch a late 1-2 win.
Anthony Martial is top scoring with six, but Jose is showing great faith in his out-of- sorts striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored a rare goal in Southampton on Saturday. And of course he’s struggling to get the best out Paul Pogba. Jose has plenty of individual talent at his disposal, but how to get them playing as a team is a mystery at the moment.
Arsenal have rediscovered their fighting spirit
In contrast, the Arsenal players seem to be more together than they have been in a while. The Emirates was treated to a fantastic North London derby on Sunday as the Gunners beat Spurs 4-2.And the way the Arsenal substitutes waded into the Spurs players after Eric Dier had celebrated his equaliser, in front of the Gunners’ fans, tells me much about the passion and fighting spirit Emery has encouraged since his arrival at the Emirates. Dier had every right to celebrate where he wanted, of course; it was a big derby goal. But the Arsenal fans will have been delighted to see the angry response from their players and that, in turn, pumped up the home crowd.
Granit Xhaka has been a signular physical force for the Gunners in recent times, but now the whole team looks up for a fight. And they have world-class talent up front in the form of Premier League-leading scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who bagged a brace against Spurs, the second being an absolute beauty, while strike partner Alexandre Lacazette was on target again.
History
Manchester United and Arsenal have had some epic battles over the years. Who can forget the Gunners’ warhorse Martin Keown bellowing down Ruud van Nistelrooy’s ear after the United striker had missed a penalty? Or indeed Pizzagate, when an Arsenal player, allegedly Cesc Fabregas, hurled a slice of Pizza La Reine at Sir Alex Ferguson after his side had booted Arsenal all around Old Trafford?
Former Red Devil Phil Neville said: “We knew how to beat Arsenal. We knew how to ruffle them and rile them. We got into Reyes, as well as Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.”
Arsene Wenger blamed referee Mike Riley for failing to protect his players and awarding the Red Devils a controversial penalty: “Riley decided the game like we know he can do at Old Trafford. We were robbed.”
So there has been no shortage of needle in these fixtures, but Manchester United have had the best of things in the Premier League era, winning 30 of the 61 clashes to Arsenal’s 17, and there have been 14 draws.
There is hope for the Old Trafford faithful. The Red Devils did the double over the Gunners last season and have not lost in their last four encounters with Arsenal at Old Trafford. But it will be a tough ask. Arsenal haven’t lost in 19 games and in none of their last eight matches away from home.
Betting Tip
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Manchester United vs Arsenal | Arsenal Draw no Bet @ 2.20 |
| December 6,2018 04:00 (GMT+8) |
Manchester United are slight favourites to win this game with SBOBET odds at 2.37, with the Gunners at 2.97 and 3.20 the draw. But the momentum is currently with Arsenal, and Emery’s team has a fire in its belly.
The Red Devils, meanwhile, are blowing hot and cold. They’ll be up for this game of course, but I’m not sure if they can turn it on enough to beat the Gunners.
The most likely score is 1-1 at odds of 6.40, and that wouldn’t surprise me at all.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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