Arsenal can further stake their claim as Premier League title favourites when they welcome Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Main title rivals Manchester City closed the gap to five points with a win over Tottenham on Thursday and Pep Guardiola's side can reduce the deficit between the two teams down to just two points if they beat Wolves just before the Gunners do battle with United.
Erik ten Hag's men are coming off the back of a demoralising midweek result after Michael Olise snatched a point for Crystal Palace in stoppage time with a stunning free-kick. Casemiro also picked up his fifth yellow card and therefore will be suspended for the encounter in north London.
Mikel Arteta may be able to call on proposed new arrival Leandro Trossard, who faces a race against time to be registered as an Arsenal player before the deadline of 12pm on Friday. Nonetheless, the Spaniard will fancy his teams chances, despite United's impressive form since the return of domestic football after the World Cup.
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However, ten Hag is not backing down from the challenge of facing the league leaders, especially as he is the only manager to have guided his team to a league victory over Arsenal this season.
As always, many pundits, including Patrice Evra and Chris Sutton, have been deliberating who they think might come out on top. Sutton has gone with the undeniable favourites, believing the impact of the late draw with Palace on United and the absence of Casemiro will prove pivotal.
"I always have a sneaky feeling for Manchester United in games like this, with Marcus Rashford so good on the counter-attack and Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen having the eye for the pass that would put him through," he wrote in his BBC Sport Premier League predictions column.
"On the flip side, I just wonder how much Wednesday's draw against Palace will have taken out of Erik ten Hag's side, who will be missing the suspended Casemiro in midfield too.
"As I said on the Monday Night Club on Radio 5 Live, United's biggest issue at present is managing expectation, because after winning nine games in a row some of their fans started to think they are title contenders again.
"This will be a great game to watch because of United's threat on the break, but Arsenal are at home and they are playing like they believe they can beat anyone at the moment."
Sutton's prediction: 3-1.
Perhaps showing his United loyalty, Evra veered away from predicting an Arsenal win, instead believing it will be a high-scoring stalemate.
"I see an opportunity in this match because it’s Manchester United," he told Betfair. "I know we can hurt them on the counter-attack, like last time.
"I can see a game where Arsenal dominates the game and suddenly United could get a goal and people will say that Arsenal didn’t deserve to lose the match.
"I don’t care if that’s the case, I want United to be ugly and to win games. That’s what we’re doing. I’m confident, I know we can hurt them, but the way Arsenal control games it will be tough for any team.
"Arsenal outplayed Tottenham, yes, United dominated the game against Tottenham, but they didn’t give them a proper lesson like Arsenal did. I hope United win but I think this game will be a draw."
Evra's prediction: 2-2
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