Arsenalvs.Man Utd

Mikel Arteta's men have a revival to continue against the Red Devils in the capital, having won each of their three matches since the November international break by at least three goals.

The Gunners pummelled West Ham United 5-2 at the weekend to rise to second in the Premier League table, leaving an ailing Manchester City in their wake and positioning themselves above Chelsea on alphabetical order.

Arsenal still have a nine-point deficit to make up to leaders Liverpool, though, and they now take on a Man United side unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions since the dismissal of Erik ten Hag.

When the Dutchman was at the helm, though, Arsenal got the better of Man United more often than not, winning each of their last three matches against the 20-time English champions in the top flight.

Arsenal could win four straight league games vs. Man United for first time

After going down 3-1 to Man United at Old Trafford in 2022, Arsenal triumphed 3-2 at the Emirates later that season, before prevailing 3-1 at home and 1-0 at Old Trafford during the 2023-24 campaign.

Should the Gunners get the better of Ruben Amorim's men on Wednesday, it will mark the first time in their 138-year history that they have beaten Man United in four consecutive league contests.

Arsenal's hopes of setting a new club record are aided by their pleasing home record against Man United, who have not managed to win any of their last five visits to the Emirates Stadium since a 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round success in January 2019.

Five of the Gunners' last six Premier League home matches against the Red Devils have seen the North London team prevail, the one aberration being a goalless draw in January 2021, which was also the last time that they failed to find the back of the net against Man United.

The visit of the Red Devils will also mark Arsenal's 500th competitive match at the Emirates Stadium, which they moved to in 2006 after 93 years at Highbury, and Arsenal are reportedly exploring expanding the ground's capacity up to 80,000.

Arteta hints at Emirates changes amid 80,000 expansion rumours

Such a move would see the Emirates have the largest capacity of any club stadium in England - trumping Old Trafford's 74,310 - and Arteta suggested that changes could be made to the stadium to enhance the matchday experience further.

Asked in Tuesday's press conference whether the atmosphere at the Emirates was growing more hostile for away teams, Arteta replied: "Yes, in certain moments. There are still a lot of things we can do to improve.

"We can do that as a team as well to promote that and how we connect with them. There are a lot of things and we are discussing that, because the criteria is changing, the age of certain attendance at the Emirates is changing and we have to continually evolve to that to get the best possible atmosphere and experience for our supporters."

Quizzed specifically on the expansion plans, Arteta responded: "That's a club issue and strategy and the moment we are ready to respond to do anything like that, I'm sure the club will announce it."

The Arsenal boss also hinted that his side could receive a couple of injury boosts ahead of the visit of Man United, as Gabriel Magalhaes, Mikel Merino, Thomas Partey and Myles Lewis-Skelly push to return from their niggles.

Written by

Ben Knapton