Arsenal and Manchester United clash at the Emirates stadium on Sunday in a fixture that could have huge implications on the final top-four and the all important Champions League places.
Arsene Wenger will be desperate to finally get one over on Jose Mourinho, who he has never beat in the Premier League.
The Arsenal boss is also under huge pressure from his own fans, with the Gunners faithful split between those who want him to stay and those who want him to leave the club this season.
United are currently fifth in the league, four points behind Manchester City and Liverpool, who sit in third and fourth. However, City have already played this weekend, so Mourinho's side could be just one point off the pace by Sunday night.
Arsenal, are in slightly more trouble. They're in serious danger of not qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 1996, which was before Wenger was in charge.
The north London side are sixth, but five points behind United, and nine behind the teams in third and fourth. However, they do have a game in hand on all of those three teams above them.
Mourinho has already said that he will field a weakened side against Arsenal on Sunday because United have this game sandwiched in between a Europa League semi-final tie against Celta Vigo.
They squeezed past their Spanish opponents in the first leg on Thursday, winning 1-0 away from home thanks to a Marcus Rashford freekick. They have a big advantage now, and a real chance to make the competition's final.
Should they do so and win it, then they will automatically qualify for next season's Champions League, and won't need to worry about finishing in the top-four.
It seems as if Mourinho is confident of doing this because he's brought two surprise names to London to face Arsenal tomorrow.
According to the Sun, both Matthew Olosunde and Demetri Mitchell, two United academy players, have been named in the match day squad for tomorrow's game.
Should either of them play, they would be making their first-team debuts. They're both defensive players, and due to injuries and the fact Mourinho wants to rest his best players, they could get some minutes.
The news that United have called up two young players will boost the confidence of Arsenal fans, who will be hoping for a result on Sunday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment