Preview: Manchester United v. Arsenal

There's only one Arsene Wenger. Pic via Daily Mail.

Old Trafford, Manchester

Monday, December 13

8:00 p.m. GMT, 3:00 p.m. EST

• Referee: Howard Webb
• This Match, Last Year: Manchester United 2 - 1 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 78 Arsenal wins, 86 United wins, 46 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: L-W-W-L-W-W
• United's Recent Form: W-W-D-D-W-W 

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Nasri - Rosicky - van Persie

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Denilson, Walcott, Arshavin, Bendtner

Out: Gibbs (ankle), Fabregas (hamstring), Diaby (ankle), Vermaelen (Achilles), Almunia (elbow)

Match Thoughts

Theo Walcott would like to be
starting again.

Here it is, everyone, the biggest match of the season so far. United away and a real top of the table clash. No doubt about it, the winner of this match will be top of the table for another week. And, if that winner should be Arsenal, they'll be four points clear of United who will still have that game in hand. Yes, Arsenal may be top now, but with United getting frozen out at Blackpool (who occasionally seem to forget they're in the Premier League now) last week, being one point clear really doesn't mean anything unless the Gunners take care of business on Monday.

Can I also say that I really don't like having to wait until Monday for such a pivotal, enthralling, and usually gut-wrenching fixture? Sure, it'll help my sleep-and-drinking schedule this weekend (with all of those early starts, I haven't gotten sleep on a Friday since November 12 - that was really my fault last week plus my birthday has been in there), but it's agonizing all the same. Plus, should Chelsea win at Shite Hart Lane, then this match is going to be a battle for top spot, even though neither side will truly be top coming in.

We should probably know by the end of the day Sunday whether Cesc Fabregas will play, still hampered by his recurring hamstring injury, which he first picked up almost a year ago at Burnley. If you recall, Arsenal was without Fabregas at Old Trafford last year with a completely different injury and controlled the level of play anyway. As I say below in the team news, if Fabregas is not 100% fit, then I don't want him playing. The dip in his quality as a playmaker between when he is 100% and when he is about 80% has been extremely noticeable, plus you risk losing him again to the same injury. We want you back, Cesc, but only at your very best and nothing less.

After that, there are questions about who starts up front, for largely very good reasons. It's always better to have difficult choices to make in your squad because too many players are fit. We'll see if Andrei Arshavin drops to the bench after a poor outing on Wednesday. My predicted line-up takes that into account, but I do largely doubt that may happen (that predicted line-up is very often wishful thinking.) The thing about Arshavin, and we all know it, is that he can be utter crap for 98% of the match, but still pull a brilliant maneuver out of nowhere to set up a gorgeous goal. He leads this team in assists and is fourth on the team in scoring, despite all of the flack he's taken this season.

Theo Walcott is getting frustrated as a super-sub, but considering in-the-form-of-his-life Samir Nasri has been playing right wing, it's hard to fit Walcott in the starting XI right now. Though, theoretically, you can move Nasri to the central role and then start Walcott on the right and drop Tomas Rosicky to the bench. Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh did not look comfortable playing together on Wednesday, so the question is: do you keep experimenting with it right now or is this too important a match to start taking gambles on your formation? I expect Wenger to continue with the experiment.

Alex Song proved how useful he can be driving forward as what we started calling last week a "rogue striker." He set up the situation that led to van Persie's penalty goal and had the one-two with Bendtner that set up Nasri's goal on Wednesday. I am all for Alex Song pushing forward, but, only when you have faith in your back four, which I don't. Maybe with a healthy Thomas Vermaelen it'll be easier for Song to push up, but right now, you are seeing far too many instances where the back four is exposed and out of position because Song isn't there to cover.

All in all, a huge three points up for grabs on Monday, though, I hesitate to think it will truly define Arsenal's season one way or the other. It's only December.

Cesc Fabregas: Questionable.

Arsenal Team News

• Returning to the side from Wednesday will be Gael Clichy (illness) and Johan Djourou (thigh.)
• Cesc Fabregas is a big concern to play given his hamstring injury. Looks like he'll be a match time decision. I'd rather him play only if he's 100% (I find his presence detrimental when he's a bit off.) If he's not fully fit, I'd much rather have Nasri or Rosicky play in the middle.
• Ridiculously unlucky Kieran Gibbs is out three weeks after rolling over his ankle on Wednesday.
• Dear Thomas Vermaelen, See you in 2011. Love, All Gooners.
• Dear Abou Diaby, Seriously, I haven't heard anything about the confusion that is your ankle injury. Love, John (and presumably All Gooners.)
• Yeah, I'm going to stop that now...
• According to John Cross of The Daily Mirror, Manuel Almunia has been allowed to go back to Spain for rest and treatment on his injured elbow. It is becoming more and more likely he'll be sold in the January transfer window. And we here at Hipster Gooner will have a photo slideshow/montage ready when that happens.
• Arsenal have won four straight fixtures in all competitions, but an argument over which win was the most comfortable would likely make your brain explode. Arsenal held off Villa's comeback twice and won 4-2, then knocked Wigan out of the Carling Cup before waiting about 75 minutes to beat both Fulham and Partizan Belgrade at home.
• The last time Arsenal won three straight in the league was October 16 to 30, with wins over Birmingham City, Manchester City, and West Ham United.

Manchester United Team News

• Reports today indicate that Paul Scholes (groin) and Rio Ferdinand (hamstring) have passed fit.
• Wes Brown and Jonny Evans have been battling illness but are in contention.
• Michael Owen (hamstring) is back in training, but will not be in the squad on Monday.
• Owen Hargreaves (hamstring) is out until Boxing Day; Antonio Valencia (broken ankle) is out long term.
• United have not lost in the league this season, which is about 40% over. They have, however, drawn almost half the time (7 out of 15) and have only won once away from home, at Stoke.
• Since this match is at Old Trafford, though, that doesn't matter. At home, United have only dropped points once in the league: a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion.
• Last year, United lost at home only twice: to Chelsea and to Aston Villa. That loss to Villa was during this very weekend of fixtures a year ago (December 12.)
• United's only competitive loss this season was their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of West Ham in the Carling Cup two weeks ago.
• They won four of their Champions League group fixtures, but drew two, and both of those were at home, including their match with Valencia on Tuesday.

Match Facts

• United took all six points from Arsenal last year. At Old Trafford in August, Arsenal controlled much of the play and led 1-0 at the half thanks to a brilliant Andrei Arshavin strike. Wayne Rooney equalized from the spot on a penalty conceded by Manuel Almunia, then Abou Diaby headed in the winner for United. Yeah, that happened.
• Arsenal then lost 3-1 to United at the Emirates, a match in which the Gunners seriously competed from about the 80th minute to the 85th.
• Arsenal have not won at Old Trafford in five tries in all competitions. Their last win there came on September 17, 2006, 1-0. Emmanuel Adebayor had the 86th minute winner.
• The Gunners have beaten Manchester United just once over nine encounters over the last three seasons. Samir Nasri had a brace that day, which he seems more than capable of doing again on Monday.
• I'm going to stop typing these, it's making me sad. Then again, you could also assume I'm just jinxing them. Though, I don't think you can jinx something you don't want to happen, right?

The Referee

• The referee is Evil Patrick Stewart Howard Webb.
• Webb has taken charge of only one Arsenal match this season: the 2-1 win over Everton in November.
• For United, Webb has also only taken charge of one match this season: their 3-2 win over Liverpool.
• Funny that, in both of those instances, Webb officiated a win by one of the teams involved in this match against a side from Liverpool.
• In this fixture last year, Mike Dean handed out 9 yellow cards (6 to Arsenal) and awarded Wayne Rooney a penalty. And, then he punched Arsene Wenger in the face. Fine, that didn't happen. But he sent Wenger off for kicking a water bottle after Arsenal's injury time equalizer was nullified for offside. And we all remember Wenger's defiant "I have nowhere to sit" gesture that followed. And if you forgot, it's at the top of this post, so scroll up again.

Around the League

• Saturday: Aston Villa v. West Bromwich Albion; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Saturday: Everton v. Wigan Athletic; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Saturday: Fulham v. Sunderland; Craven Cottage, London
• Saturday: Stoke City v. Blackpool; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Saturday: West Ham United v. Manchester City; Boleyn Ground, London
• Saturday: Newcastle United v. Liverpool; St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Sunday: Bolton Wanderers v. Blackburn Rovers; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Sunday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Birmingham City; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Sunday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Chelsea; White Hart Lane, London