Manchester United vs Arsenal Premier League LIVE Football Score 23/04/2022
Arsenal face Manchester United on Thursday night, with the Gunners looking to break into the Premier League top four. A win for Arsenal would move them to 26 points for the season and eight ahead of Thursday’s opponents Man United, with the Gunners currently unbeaten in their last three visits to Old Trafford – their last defeat dating back to April 2018.
Goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli saw Arsenal win 2-0 against Newcastle in their last Premier League outing, but after Saka was forced off on Saturday with a knock, the winger is now a doubt for the clash with United.
Arteta stated he is hopeful of having the 20-year-old available for Thursday, but the boss may not want to risk Saka if he isn’t fully fit. After his goal for the Gunners when replacing Saka last weekend, Thursday could hand Martinelli a chance to carry his momentum forward and start in his place.
Granit Xhaka and Sead Kolasinac remain sidelined for the trip to Old Trafford, whilst Nuno Tavares is set to remain in the starting XI, despite Kieran Tierney being back to full fitness. So, what line-up will both sides select? And what could the final score be? We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for United vs Arsenal and this is what happened.
United had a glorious chance to take the lead early on when Nuno Tavares lost possession in his own half, allowing Sancho to charge towards goal and find Rashford inside the box, but the forward went for power over placement, blasting over the bar from six-yards out.
United failed to capitalise on a handful of good chances in the opening stages, and it came back to bite them when Arsenal took the lead 30 minutes in through Martinelli.
In the side for the injured Saka, the Brazilian peeled away from Fred inside the box to meet Martin Odegaard’s free-kick, and his header looped over David de Gea and into the net to send Arsenal into half-time with a one-goal advantage.
The second-half played out in a similar fashion to the first as United searched for an equaliser early on in the half, and Bruno Fernandes came inches away from the equaliser seconds after the start of the second half.
Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani were all unavailable at Chelsea, with caretaker boss Michael Carrick stressing beforehand that left-back Shaw was still being carefully assessed after sustaining a couple of head injuries in recent fixtures.
However, Mason Greenwood returned after testing positive for COVID-19 and was an unused substitute. Cristiano Ronaldo also started on the bench but will be hoping to feature from the off against the Gunners, a club he had many great battles with during his previous stay in Manchester.
Mikel Arteta is awaiting the results of a scan on Bukayo Sako’s injury that he sustained in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United last time out. The England international scored the opener against the Magpies before being withdrawn with a thigh problem.
The caretaker has put together solid results against Villarreal and Chelsea so far and now faces a Gunners team surging towards the top four, as interim Ralf Rangnick awaits his visa. Mikel Arteta called on his side to be more ruthless after only putting two goals past a weak Newcastle side on Saturday, and could be without goalscorer Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last six league meetings with United – a run featuring three consecutive clean sheets – but have never stretched such a run to seven games. With this the last kick-off in this the midweek round of matches, a draw may be enough to push Arsenal above West Ham into fourth while United can jump to sixth or even drop as low as 14th.
Man United centre-back Harry Maguire returns from suspension in time to face the Gunners and is sure to slot straight back into the defence, in spite of his shaky performances this term, with Eric Bailly perhaps being unfairly dropped.
Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani and Raphael Varane make up a trio of absentees for the hosts, who are still sweating over the fitness of Luke Shaw due to a head injury.
Ronaldo surely cannot fathom being benched for such a crucial game again and could take the place of Marcus Rashford in the first XI, that is if the United boss sticks with the midfield-heavy 4-3-1-2 formation.
As for the Gunners, Saka went down holding his groin in the Newcastle win, and Arteta subsequently confirmed that the 20-year-old – who placed sixth in this year’s Kopa Trophy – did feel a muscular problem.
Saka has not been ruled out of this game just yet, but the door has opened for Martinelli to earn a deserved start, and Arteta’s only two confirmed absentees at this time are long-term victims Sead Kolasinac (ankle) and Granit Xhaka (knee).
Alexandre Lacazette’s run in the starting lineup came to an end on Saturday as Martin Odegaard returned to the first XI, and it is difficult to see the Norwegian losing his place here.