Facing one of the biggest threats to their unbeaten start under Ruben Amorim, Manchester United stop over at the Emirates for a Premier League spectacle with Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Both English titans won emphatically in gameweek 13, as the Gunners crushed West Ham United 5-2 before the Red Devils put four past Everton without reply at Old Trafford.
Match preview
Momentarily on course to better last season's record-breaking 6-0 smashing of West Ham at the London Stadium, Mikel Arteta's rejuvenated Arsenal found themselves four goals to the good inside just 36 minutes in Saturday's derby, before Irons full-back duo Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri threatened the most extraordinary comeback.
However, in strikingly similar fashion to their 5-1 Champions League obliteration of Sporting Lisbon, Arsenal extinguished their opponents' hopes of an almighty turnaround through a Bukayo Saka penalty in a spectacular seven-goal first half, matching a Premier League record in the process.
A scoreless second suited the Gunners to a tee as they made it three wins on the bounce in all competitions - all of which have come by a three-goal margin or more - and Arteta's men are once again the closest challengers to runaway leaders Liverpool, even if they are only above Chelsea on alphabetical order.
As much as international breaks can be a bugbear for football fans, Arsenal have been a team transformed since the November hiatus and will now play a landmark match at their Emirates home, which is set to host its 500th competitive club game on Wednesday evening.
Alongside Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal are one of just three teams in the division with their unbeaten home record still intact, and six of their last seven battles at the Emirates - where they are also on a 12-game scoring sequence in all competitions - have ended in victory.
While Arsenal as a whole have been resurrected since Premier League football returned, newly-appointed Man United boss Amorim has overseen the revival of two stuttering strikers during the embryonic stages of his Mancunian adventure.
Indeed, both Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee conjured up braces in the 4-0 triumph over relegation-threatened Everton on Sunday, a result that marked Man United's fourth home success on the spin in all tournaments after Amorim's Old Trafford debut versus Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League ended 3-2 in favour of the Red Devils.
A praiseworthy tally of eight points from their last four Premier League games has propelled Man United out of the bottom half of the Premier League table and into ninth spot, only four points adrift of Brighton & Hove Albion in the final Champions League position, but the less said about their road exploits the better.
The 1-1 draw versus Ipswich Town in Amorim's inaugural game stretched Man United's winless run on their travels in all competitions to six matches - five of which have ended all square - and Southampton are the only side that the Red Devils have conquered away from their Old Trafford home so far this term.
The more recent head-to-head history makes for unpleasant reading for the Man Utd faithful too, as they have lost each of their last three Premier League games against Arsenal and have not prevailed at the Emirates since January 2019, a 3-1 FA Cup win where Alexis Sanchez struck against his old employers.
Team News
An all-too frequent theme for Arsenal this season, the Gunners left the London Stadium with a handful of new injury concerns, as Gabriel Magalhaes had to be withdrawn at the break after an issue that he picked up against Sporting flared up in the first half.
The Brazilian's status remains up in the air at this juncture, and the same goes for Mikel Merino (knee), Thomas Partey (muscle) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (unspecified), all of whom missed the win over West Ham after sustaining injuries in training.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are definitely missing for the hosts on account of their knee problems, so a first Premier League start of the season could come Jakub Kiwior's way if Gabriel is not risked for the crunch clash.
Arsenal can expect little sympathy from Man United when it comes to injury woes, as the Red Devils suffered a huge scare over captain Bruno Fernandes, who came off on the 65-minute mark against Everton and was seen with an ice pack around his ankle on the bench.
However, Amorim has affirmed that he expects Fernandes to be fit for this one, but two players who are definitely unavailable are the suspended Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo, both of whom picked up milestone yellow cards in the victory over Everton.
Thankfully for Amorim, Harry Maguire is fit again after injury and could be a straight swap for Martinez in defence, while Leny Yoro (foot) might finally make a matchday squad too, but Jonny Evans (knock) and Victor Lindelof (groin) may both miss out again.
On Tuesday evening, the visitors were also dealt an all-too familiar blow over Luke Shaw, who revealed that he would likely miss the final few weeks of the year with a new muscular injury.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Calafiori; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire; Diallo, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dalot; Zirkzee, Fernandes; Hojlund
We say: Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United
As potent as Man United have been at their Old Trafford base under Ruud van Nistelrooy and Amorim, their powers often elude them on the road, a bad omen before a visit to Arsenal's Emirates fortress.
Having also lost the effervescent Mainoo and the defensive cornerstone Martinez, Man United should suffer their first setback of the Amorim era against an Arsenal side who have rediscovered their attacking mojo.
History will be written if our prediction comes true, as an Arsenal win would see them beat Man United in four successive league matches for the first time ever.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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