STAR PREVIEW: Manchester United v Arsenal

We’re not that far into the new season but already there’s a palpable sense of Déjà vu around for Manchester United and Arsenal as both once again aim for the promised land of the Champions League once again.

On all the evidence we’ve seen so far, it seems to be that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and separating the pair in the match odds is hard. Manchester United have taken just eight points from their first six Premier League matches of the season and needed penalties to get past Rochdale in the EFL Cup, putting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under tremendous pressure if results don’t improve – and quickly.

Man Utd v Arsenal
Premier League
20:00 Sky Sports Premier League / Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, Since 2000)
MAR 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United
JAN 2019 FA CUP Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United
DEC 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 2-2 Arsenal
APR 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
DEC 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United
MAY 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United
NOV 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
FEB 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal
OCT 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 3-0 Manchester United
MAY 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal

Arsenal have once again been two different teams. There is the home side, which seems to be able to pull any result out of the fire, and the away side, which conspires to lose points at nearly every juncture. Emery’s men have beaten Burnley and Aston Villa at home, but also lost at Liverpool and also dropped points at Watford from a 2-2 lead.

United have big injury problems too – Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial cannot be described as certainties for tonight’s game, as boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said last week. “I wouldn’t put my life on Rashford and Martial being fit, that’s part of this game – you work with what you have.”

Those are hardly encouraging quotes for United fans, with those three having provided the overwhelming amount of the Red Devil’s attacking threat this season, and without them, a huge amount will fall on the promising but raw Mason Greenwood and new signing Daniel James (three goals in six Premier League games) to boot.

Arsenal are without Alexandre Lacazette, but that has simplified things for Unai Emery as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can lead the line through the middle whilst Nicolas Pepe can either accompany him through the middle or out wide. Those two carry a tremendous threat and it’s no coincidence that Arsenal have scored in every Premier League game this season.

United have struggled for goals a tad more, but it can’t be forgotten that but their two successes this term came to nil in big home matches against Chelsea (4-0) and Leicester (1-0).

Finding a bet in this is tricky, given the pros and cons in both sides, and this might be a game where goals are the best bet. Both teams have scored in four of the last five meetings between these sides and many of them have had over 2.5 goals, which is our recommendation with a small wager on a 2-2 correct score, a result which Arsenal have had twice already.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK OVER 2.5 GOALS 5 pt at 8/11 with starsports.bet
BACK 2-2 DRAW 1 pt at 11/1 with starsports.bet

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