preview of Arsenal vs Man united...on sunday

By Myles Palmer

Sir Alex will not start Scholes and Giggs at the Emirates.

Against Man City. he went for experience.

Against Arsenal, he'll go for running power and bank on Valencia taking Clichy apart.

The line-ups will be something like this :

Arsenal (4-3-3): Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen OR Campbell, Clichy; Denilson, Fabregas, Ramsey; Rosicky, Bendtner, Arshavin.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar; Rafael, Brown, Evans OR Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Park; Rooney, Berbatov.
_____________________________________________________________________________

What a relief that Vermaelen has NOT cracked his fibula.

He had scans on Thursday afternoon and there is no break.

That is crucial news. If Vermaelen could not play in the next 20 games....don't even think about it. Don't even go there.

Manchester United have lost four away games, drawn one.Their last league win at Arsenal was  in February 2005.

Arsenal have lost three away games, drawn three.

Those three draws are the main reason Arsenal are on 49 points, just below United on 50.

Spurs are fourth and 8 points behind Arsenal, having played the same number of games (23).

In any season, Sunday would be an opportunity for Arsenal. Now, on the last day of January 2010, it's a massive chance to beat Manchester United and show us that they can finish higher than third in this league.

Both teams played on Wednesday night. The Carling semi-final between United and City was the more high-profile encounter

United's 3-1 win showed that Roberto Mancini is a rookie manager here, someone who has a lot to learn about English football.

Going to Old Trafford 2-1 up, Mancini needed a more pro-active approach. Instead, he picked three defensive midfielders to protect his centrebacks, one of whom, Boyata, is a novice who miskicked several crucial balls. He should have brought on Adebayor and Ireland when the score was 1-0, not waited till it was 2-0.

City's team has changed a lot and Stevie Ireland is only in the bench. That's a real shame. His style would actually suit the present Man United team and he would blend beautifully with Berbatov. Because Carrick, Scholes, Anderson and Fletcher are not touch players who can scoot forward fast and often and score.

Mancini needs a pre-season with City. But if he doesn't finish above Spurs, he might not get it.

Looking at Manchester United,  their performance, even in that volatile atmosphere, was measured. That was my conclusion. It was professionally measured.

Like Liverpool in their pomp, Man United at their best became masters of minimalism, the art of doing just enough, and doing it when it mattered most, doing it when a game needs to be closed out, wrapped up, sealed and won.

Yes, United have lost that art. But not wholly. They are still, at times, a momentum team. And they are still, in crucial phases of an important game, a measured outfit who can get their noses in front and stay there. Those winning qualities are in the club's DNA.

Their battling 3-1 victory over a patchy Man City was a good performance.  A strong collective effort by a group of determined warriors who know how to measure and shape and sustain their collective effort. Starting the second leg 2-1 down, United scored in 51 through Scholes, scored again in 70 through Carrick, wobbled a bit when Tevez got a goal back five minutes later, and then Rooney headed the killer in injury time.

Sir Alex Ferguson is no snob. He doesn't look down on the Carling Cup. You saw Rooney and Fletcher celebrating after the final whistle. Their ecstatic faces said : We've done it, we're in the final !

Rio Ferdinand missed 19 games with a back injury, came back and elbowed a Hull striker. His three game ban has been made into four after the FA turned down his "frivolous appeal."

Sir Alex did that because he wanted to beat Man City so much. He now faces the swarming, short-passing style of Arsenal, who have scored a remarkable 34 league goals at home. United have played a game more at home and scored 31.

He will go with running power to control Arsenal's swarming midfield and nullify the goal threat of Fabregas and Arshavin. He thinks : If I do that, I can't lose.

He will pick Park on the left, Fletcher and Anderson in the middle, and use Valencia to take Clichy apart.  He played Nani for 90 against City because he wanted to save Valencia for Clichy.

However, Park and Anderson are just lungs and legs. They're not a good players and neither will score.

Rooney wants to be a Manchester United legend like Cantona, Best, Law, Charlton and Ryan Giggs.

The footballer he admires most is Giggs, who has played over 800 games for United in the last 20 years. Think about it : 800 games !

Rooney can't rack up 800 but he'll try. He is a scouse street footballer who has had to handle playing for England at 17 and fame and controversy and marriage and fatherhood and he’s now handling a massive role at the worlds biggest football club. He’s 24 and doing quite well, I think.

He has only scored 6 goals in 15 against Arsenal.

Sky's Tony Gale tips Man United to beat Arsenal, after co-commentating with Martin Tyler on Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 0.

Tony says, "I think they're missing that defensive midfield player."

Jan 29, 2010