Arsenal and Manchester United meet in the Premier League on Saturday. Here are four things that will definitely happen in the game – including Welbeck and Van Persie to score.
Danny Welbeck will score
Presuming he’s fit after a hamstring scare in midweek with England, Danny Welbeck is a certainty to score for Arsenal against his boyhood side of Manchester United.
Having been discarded by the Red Devils in favour of Radamel Falcao, who has rarely been fit, Welbeck has a point to prove.
So will Robin Van Persie
Robin Van Persie has played Arsenal four times since moving to Manchester United in the summer of 2012. The Dutchman is unbeaten against his former side, and has scored three times in those four matches.
Arsenal will understandably fear their former striker – and with good reason.
There will be goals
Both Manchester United and Arsenal will have to field a makeshift defence in this game. The Gunners are missing first choice defenders Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny, and have been playing Nacho Monreal out of position at centre back with Calum Chambers switching to right back. Arsene Wenger’s squad is laughably thin at the back, despite having the resources to have strengthened in the summer. They have only managed three clean sheets in eleven games – a stark contrast to last season when Wojciech Szczesny shared the Golden Gloves award with Chelsea’s Petr Cech.
It’s a similar story for Louis Van Gaal’s Red Devils – but perhaps even worse. Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Rafael, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Luke Shaw are all likely to be missing, while David De Gea is a doubt with a dislocated finger.
There will be injuries
Fans of both Manchester United and Arsenal have felt pretty sorry for themselves recently due to the amount of injuries accrued so far this season – and with fair justification.
Whether it’s due to the fact that they are the only teams in the country with Desso training pitches installed, the way the clubs train or another factor, both sides have found their squads decimated by injury.
Arsenal currently have ten first team players out injured, while Manchester United have 13. It’s easy to imagine that number increasing tomorrow.