Weghorst was tidy linking up with his new teammates in midweek but he was barely a goalscoring threat. He is not going to have it as ‘easy’ today and it would have been understandable had Ten Hag moved Rashford up front – where he played at Old Trafford – and accommodated another winger. There is a risk Weghorst could blunt the attack against the league’s best side.
Antony is still rolling his studs over the ball during United’s warm-up but in those tight keep-ball drills it is more effective. He can get away with unpredictability in that setting. On a full-sized pitch and on the counter-attack (and United have a penchant for them against Arsenal), it is not going to wash.
Manchester United take on Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon but Casemiro has not travelled to London for the match, as he picked up his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season in midweek, which means he’s serving a one-match suspension.
In his absence, Ten Hag has named a midfield three of Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes and, with the exception of McTominay, he made no other changes from the starting team that drew against Crystal Palace.
Since United last won at the Emirates in Wenger’s final season, they have lost 2-0, 2-0, drawn 0-0 and lost 3-1 in their league meetings with Arsenal. Some of those games were genuinely forgettable as the teams were also-rans and the ‘rivalry’ was non-existent. Nobody has bothered regaling friends or family about Arsenal’s win over United on New Year’s Day in 2020.
Manchester United had several chances here in April, a period when they were sleep-walking towards the Europa Conference League and Arsenal were on the march. Both ended up in the Europa League and their trajectory is similar now.
— Troll Football (@UKTrollFootball) January 25, 2023