Arsenal v Man Utd preview | 4 players missing, Aubameyang misses out + prediction

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Arsenal can climb into the top four and to within just one point of third-placed Tottenham with a win over Manchester United this afternoon.

We head in to the game sitting fourth in the Premier League table and just one point behind United so we can leapfrog our rivals into fourth with a win at the Emirates later today. We have added incentive to beat Man Utd after seeing Tottenham lose at Southampton yesterday as victory this afternoon would also see Arsenal move to within just one-point of third-placed Spurs.

However, defeat would leave us four points off Tottenham and Man Utd while Chelsea would also climb above us into fifth [with a game in hand] if they beat Wolves at Stamford Bridge this afternoon so this game has huge implications for our top four chances. Unai Emery also needs to get things back on track after Thursday’s embarrassing defeat at Rennes in the Europa League which has left our hopes of progressing to the quarter finals hanging in the balance.

Prediction & odds

Arsenal are the 8/13 favourites to win the game but we can use a 1xBet promo code to get gain access to lucrative welcome offers which make this a risk free bet. As such, it’s worth betting on higher odds to increase your potential returns and my predicted score of 2-1 Arsenal can be backed at 8/1. This is a classic game of home vs away. Arsenal have an excellent record at the Emirates as we’ve won each of our last eight Premier League games on home soil. However, we’ll be up against a Man Utd side who’ve won their last eight away games so something has to give this afternoon. We’ve won two of our last three league games against United at the Emirates but they won the FA Cup game in January. Obviously they are a much stronger unit under Solskjaer and I expect a tough game. My head tells me it will be a draw but I’m going with my heart and backing Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd.

Team news

Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns but obviously Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck remain out with serious long-term injuries while Lucas Torreira will begin a three-match ban after being sent-off against Tottenham last week.

As for Man Utd, they welcome Anthony Martial and Nemanja Matic back in to the squad but it looks like Ander Herrera failed a late fitness test as he didn’t make the trip to North London yesterday.

Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez, Juan Mata, Antonio Valencia and Phil Jones are also unavailable but Paul Pogba returns after serving a European suspension in midweek

Preferred line-up

I’d stick with a back four and the big decision is who starts at right-back. Shkodran Mustafi has played there in the last two games but he’s a total liability and it’s becoming clear that Emery doesn’t fancy Ainsley Maitland-Niles in defence. Therefore, Stephan Lichtsteiner might be the best option as he was actually finding some decent form before he picked up a knock before the Spurs game.

I’d also opt for Alexandre Lacazette over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as I think the Frenchman is a better all-round option up front while I hope we see Mesut Ozil starting ahead of Aaron Ramsey in the No.10 role.

As for Man Utd, they’re expected to line-up: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Matic, Fred, Pogba, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku

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