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Manchester United will assess Anthony Martial, who missed Thursday’s win against Midtjylland with a tight hamstring.
Injury-hit United, who were missing 14 players in midweek, will also monitor David De Gea and Chris Smalling.
Arsenal will be without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who injured his knee against Barcelona.
The Gunners will assess Gabriel, who is nearing a return from a hamstring problem.
Editor’s Note: Manchester United have had two decent performances in Cup competitions over the past week but it’s the League form which has been their biggest issue this season, today they play host to an Arsenal side who can’t afford to give up any ground to Leicester in the race for the title.
On Monday United strolled past League One Shrewsbury in the F.A. Cup while on Thursday the knives were getting sharpened at one point once Midtjylland went ahead at Old Trafford, thankfully that was just a small blip as they ran out eventual 5-1 winners. Those two wins have kept the Van Gaal out comments to a minimum this week but as we know by now it only takes a League defeat for them to be stoked up again.
The main issue for United will be their ever growing injury list as Anthony Martial now looks set to join an already packed physio room that coupled with the injury to Wayne Rooney could leave them very light in terms of attacking options. Could Marcus Rashford be given his first Premier League start after scoring on Thursday night, it was the dream debut for the youngster as he scored on his debut against the Danish Champions.
United were paired with Liverpool in the Europa League Round of 16 Draw on Friday, which for both sides is the probable only route to the Champions League next season. United have now dropped to 6th with West Ham’s victory over Sunderland last night. So that tie will take on even more importance for the most hated of rivals.
Today though they could prove to be a difficult hurdle for Arsenal to climb as they look to win a first Premier League title since 2004. A win today would be a massive one especially as Leicester have managed to extend the gap to 5 points again, albeit with The Gunners having Today’s game in hand to play. But at this point of the season you would rather have the points the board then having to play catch up
It was a disappointing Midweek for Arsenal as they were beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 and looked set to be knocked out at this stage again. For 70 Minutes they matched and at some points were better than the holders but their downfall was not playing as they did for the full 90. Barcelona turned it up a notch and Arsenal had nothing left in the tank.
The best possible way to bounce back will be with a win today against their historical rivals Manchester United. It won’t be quite like the ties of Ferguson v Wenger and Keane v Vieria but you know there will certainly be no love lost and United would more than happily put a spanner in the works in terms of Arsenal’s title tilt.
It’s going to be a big test for Arsenal Today, can they overcome this one and keep themselves firmly in the title race. With so many injuries to United then you would certainly make Arsene Wenger’s side favourites this Afternoon. Head says Arsenal win but my heart says a draw. I think I’ll go with my head for this one.
