New Telegraph

EPL: Battle of the young guns at Old Trafford

 

 

 

Tunde Sulaiman In years long gone by a game between Manchester United and Arsenal was usually a matchup between two sides gunning to be crowned Premier League champions but alas this is no longer the case as a look at the league table shows.

 

However, in spite of this, incidentally the fixture between two iconic sides is still the stand out fixture of Match Day 7 – even if it is just for nostalgic reasons!

 

The tie sees two teams battling to retain their ‘top six’ status under fairly new managers, who are still cutting their teeth handling big teams.

 

Although 47-year-old Ole Gunner Solskjaer has been in charge of the Red Devils for slightly longer than the 38-yearold Mikel Arteta has at Arsenal, having been in the hot seat since December 19, 2018 he is still yet to convince many that he is the right man for the United job.

 

And despite scoring some notable scalps including wins over Manchester City, Chelsea (both last campaign), PSG and RB Leipzig (in this year’s Champions League) as soon as he hits a reversal the knives come out again with the figure of former Spurs’ manager, Mauricio Pochettino looming large over his shoulders.

 

Last weekend the former United striker did not cover himself in glory after his side failed to beat a stubborn Chelsea at Old Trafford – where he is still yet to win this term after three games, which have been a shock 3-1 opening day defeat by Crystal Palace, followed by a 6-1 mauling by Tottenham before last week’s barren draw with Chelsea.

 

Thus he will be under immense pressure not to make it an unwarranted record of four winless games at the famous ground this afternoon, which has not happened since the early 70s.

 

In the corresponding fixture last season, the Gunners were able to leave the Theatre of Dreams with a share of the points before beating the Red Devils at the Emirates.

 

Incidentally the two rivals have met a total of 232 times with the home side holding a narrow 9 9 wins t o 84 loses to their London foes. One has to go back to April 19, 2018 for the last time United secured a win over the Gunners and Ole will be desperate to rectify this if he is to avoid coming under more scrutiny.

 

However, one has to go back to 2006 for the last time the London outfit was able to gun down United at Old Trafford. But then Arteta is also coming under pressure especially after last weekend’s shock 1-0 home loss to Leicester City – the first for the Foxes since 1973. Before then the Gunners had also lost by the same score line to Manchester City at the Etihad to slip to 11th on the table.

 

The fact that both managers are feeling the heat should ensure that their teams give fans a spectacle although that is what many believed last week when the Red Devils hosted the Blues only for their safety first tactics leaving fans denied of the usual spectacle associated with the teams.

 

But perhaps as this is Ole’s 100th match in charge of the Red Devils this might further ginger him to ensure his wards show the same intensity that they did on Wednesday night which will give fans a very riveting game of football.

 

In other games today, third placed Aston Villa, which has only lost once, is at home to seventh-placed Southampton; Everton, which suffered its first defeat last weekend at St. Mary’s is back on home turf to tackle 14-placed Newcastle and in the last game today, Jose Mourinho’s fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur host 16th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.

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