Manchester United v Arsenal Match Result
Arsenal finished with seventy-four points to end up runners-up in the Premier League last season. The Gunners also pushed eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain close in the Champions League. However, it was a season of “not quite” once again for a Gunners team who have not actually been crowned champions of England since 2004.
Perhaps this will change this season and the north London side have clearly got a strong chance of success. We know all about that watertight defence where Gabriel and William Saliba form a strong barrier in front of David Raya. However, they have sometimes lacked an out and out goalscorer, with Viktor Gyokeres arriving to widespread acclaim this summer.
Martin Zubimendi may also feature prominently for Arsenal and the bookies make them slight odds-on to claim a victory at Old Trafford. It’s notable that the money has come for the visitors in the lead-up to this game and it’s an easy away fixture if you base this on the fact that United lost nine of their home matches last season.
Perhaps things will be different this time around. There have been some big money captures, with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo arriving at the club having proven themselves to be successful with “lesser” Premier League sides. There’s also been the capture of Benjamin Sesko, although there’s still a question mark over the defence.
De Ligt, Yoro and Martinez are the three centre-halves likely to be responsible for snuffing out an Arsenal attack dripping with talent. According to the odds, there’s only a 28% chance that the game will end in a home win and those odds have been drifting in the lead up to this game.
As for the prospects of a draw, there’s a roughly 30% chance of the game ending all square. We could see United keeping things relatively tight and defending deep against opponents who are likely to dominate possession.
Goals Under/Over
The bookies think it’s marginally more likely that we’ll see Under 2.5 Goals than Over 2.5 Goals at Old Trafford. That’s not a huge surprise when you reflect on the most recent encounters. Both have ended in a 1-1 scoreline and the two teams played out a draw as recently as March. Despite Ruben Amorim’s difficulties at the club last season, they actually took the lead against a title contender.
Bruno Fernandes’ opener was cancelled out by Declan Rice and this followed an identical scoreline when the teams met in the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium. On that occasion, it was Fernandes again who broke the deadlock before Gabriel was able to restore parity. If we’re on for another 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, then this would bring Unders in again. However, there will be more firepower on the pitch this weekend.
BTTS
There’s a reasonable chance of both teams scoring according to the Premier League match odds. After all, this has happened in the previous two encounters and it’s also occurred in seven of the last nine clashes between Arsenal and Manchester United. Both teams will be going for the win and there weren’t many games where the Gunners failed to find the net last term.
They were able to rack up seventy-four points by virtue of scoring sixty-nine goals in total and they managed nearly as many on the road (34) as they did at home (35). Bukayo Saka is back fit and firing for Arsenal which strengthens their chance of scoring goals, with Viktor Gyokeres hoping to hit the ground running for his new club.
Manchester United will want to lay down a market and start playing attacking football. Ironically, this was achieved for Amorim at Sporting partly due to the scoring ability of Gyokeres who he will now face on Sunday. However, there will be a trio of new faces who have all been recruited thanks to their ability to find the net.
Mbuemo, Cesko and Cunha are all dangerous operators and we think that BTTS Yes is a decent runner, especially as that includes the possibility of the game ending in a 1-1 scoreline.
First Goalscorer
Viktor Gyokeres has arrived to a fanfare at the Emirates Stadium and it’s crazy to think the Swede was playing for Coventry City in the Championship as recently as 2023. Since then, he has scored sixty-eight goals in sixty-six games for Sporting and will surely pilfer the goals in an Arsenal shirt. Many fans regard him as the missing piece of the jigsaw and he is the betting favourite to break the deadlock.
However, it’s possible that his forward runs will leave spaces for others to attack. This could include Kai Havertz if included in his number ten position, with Bukayo Saka clearly a dangerous operator on the right with the propensity to cut in and score. There’s also Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice who can score from range.
For United, Bruno Fernandes has scored in his previous two encounters against Arsenal and has to be taken seriously for this clash. There’s also the prospect of Bryan Mbuemo following up those twenty goals with another strike here and breaking an early duck for his new club. However, Bruno is on penalties and likely to be given the nod as far as set pieces are concerned.