Will the Battle of Old Trafford be won by Arsenal’s midfield?

Arsenal must exploit United’s midfield

Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad travel to Old Trafford on the weekend to face off against Manchester United who have been having a horrible season. United currently sit 8^th on the table, equal 54 points with Chelsea, and their European hopes seem to be disappearing.

Meanwhile, we sit top of the league, but with Manchester City having a game in hand, the game on the weekend is another must-win. although United are struggling this season, they always seem to manage to show up against us at their home.

As we all sit and pray that City drop points, a job needs to be done at Old Trafford. Although United are playing shockingly right now, they will do everything they can dampen our title hopes and they also will be fighting to finish as high on the table as they can.

United vs Arsenal has always and will always be a huge match that almost feels like a derby, we spent so many years in the early 2000s chasing each other that there has become a fierce rivalry and both clubs will do anything to win.

United’s big problem lately is their midfield and defence. They’re wide open in the middle and this gives Arsenal a massive advantage because our midfield has been working perfectly. United have a lot of players missing due to injury and their back four is somewhat a makeshift back four as they’ve been forced to use players completely out of their positions.

Their midfield is almost laughable right now, they leave open spaces and constantly look like they’re chasing the ball and the opposition and make it easy for teams to slice through them and attack the defenders, making it easy to overload them and score. If we can get an early goal, I think the game will be quickly done, United seem to drop their heads after they concede and if we can get one early, I think we win.

Arsenal must use this to their advantage, depending on who Arteta decides to start in the middle, United can be easily exploited through the centre of the pitch. Thomas Partey would probably be a great player for this match, alongside Odegaard and Rice.

Partey would give both Rice and Odegaard the freedom to go forward and create problems for United. They’ll be able to move the ball around and play slick football as United look to chase them down.

We are travelling to Manchester and facing a United side who are having one of their worst seasons but we can’t go there and underestimate them either. Old Trafford is never an easy ground to go to and their fans make things as hostile as they can.

We need to stay focused, stick to tactics and hopefully get an early goal.

What’s your thoughts Gooners?