Arsenal Title Hopes Boosted by Man United Injury Crisis
Man United vs Arsenal Expert Pick and Analysis
Arsenal Banking on Man City Slip Up
With two games left in the Premier League, leaders Arsenal are one point ahead of Manchester City.
However, City have a game in hand, which means Arsenal need the three-time defending champions to slip up to even have a chance of winning the title.
Arsenal head to Old Trafford to take on City’s rivals Manchester United, who have been decimated by injuries, this Sunday.
United started midfielder Casemiro and 36-year old Jonny Evans at center back on Monday and lost 4-0 to Crystal Palace.
With United’s injury situation improving but still dire, stay tuned for our Man United vs Arsenal Expert Pick and EPL odds discussion.
Devils vs Gunners
Day/Time:
Location: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Man United vs Arsenal Head-to-Head
The home team has won and both Premier League teams have scored in each of the last five matches between Manchester United vs Arsenal.
The last time the road team won in this fixture was when Arsenal took down Man United 1-0 in 2020.
When Arsenal took on United last September at the Emirates, Marcus Rashford struck first for visiting Man United.
The Gunners then scored three unanswered goals to win 3-1. Our Man United vs Arsenal Expert Pick will also take into account the fact that Arsenal have lost on just two of their last five trips to Old Trafford, with a 1-2-2 record.
Manchester United at Risk of Worst Finish in 34 Years
Manchester United were missing 11 players for Monday’s trip to South London to take on Crystal Palace. Erik ten Hag lamented that the situation is the worst he’s ever faced in his managerial career.
Captain Bruno Fernandes even missed a match due to injury for the first time in his professional club career. There were seven absentees along the backline alone and United were forced to play a half-injured Jonny Evans and Casemiro at center back.
The results were predictably disastrous, as United fell 4-0 at Selhurst Park.
Casemiro looked completely out of his depth at center back and United created very little at the other end of the pitch. Currently, Manchester United are in eighth place in the Premier League standings.
They’re at serious risk of missing out on European competition and they’ve never finished in eighth or below in the Premier League era. In a boost for Ten Hag and United, four players could return on Sunday.
Center back Lisandro Martinez and left back Luke Shaw have reportedly returned to training.
However, Martinez has played just 21 minutes since February 4th and Shaw last played on February 18th. Meanwhile, Fernandes is in contention to return, along with fellow midfielder Scott McTominay.
While United will still have some issues putting together a functional backline, the midfield should be more solid. Regardless, only Luton Town and Sheffield United have conceded more shots in the EPL stats this season than Man United.
Arsenal on Four Game Winning Streak
Since losing to Aston Villa in the EPL and Bayern Munich in the Champions League in mid April, Arsenal have won their last four matches. They’ve averaged over three goals per game on their winning streak and have kept three clean sheets.
Arsenal currently show +220 odds to become EPL champions for the first time in 20 years. Last weekend, Arsenal comfortably defeated Bournemouth 3-0 and goalkeeper David Raya clinched the Premier League’s Golden Glove award.
Raya, whose loan from Brentford will be made permanent, has kept 15 clean sheets in 30 starts since taking over the starting job from Aaron Ramsdale. Mikel Arteta will want his team to close out the season with two wins and two clean sheets to give themselves the best chance to win the title.
Even a Manchester City draw in their last three games should be enough for Arsenal to win the title, based on the goal difference tiebreaker. Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka have all been scoring quite a bit lately.
Havertz has three goals in his last three EPL matches and Saka has two in two. Trossard has shown a knack for scoring big goals this season and has three goals in his last four.
Arsenal’s backline has been incredible this season and they’ve conceded just two goals in their last seven road matches. While United will be missing a bunch of players for this one, only Jurrien Timber is a potential absentee for the Gunners.
Man United vs Arsenal Match Analysis & Odds
While Manchester United have lost just one of their last five games, they’ve conceded at least twice in four of those five matches. United have also lost five EPL games at Old Trafford this Premier League season and 13 overall.
At the moment, the Man United vs Arsenal odds price the Gunners as -260 favorites for Sunday’s match.
In eight Premier League road matches in 2024, Arsenal are an unbeaten 7-1-0 and they’ve averaged over three goals in those games.
Bettors can find Arsenal -1.5 at even odds or Man United +1.5 at -120. Injury-stricken United are +550 underdogs for this match and they’d virtually hand their rivals Man City a fourth straight title by winning this match.
A draw (+460) wouldn’t be good enough for Arsenal and expect Arteta’s men to go all out for the win. Martin Odegaard should have a lot of time on the ball on Sunday and he’ll be key to unlocking United’s defense.
Even though each of the last five meetings between these teams have finished with four or more goals, both over and under 3.5 goals show -110 odds here.
Bettors should keep tabs on Fernandes’ status for Man United. The Red Devils may struggle offensively if their talisman isn’t able to suit up for a second straight game.
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