Arsenal and Manchester United meet in the FA Cup third round today, with both clubs and managers at complicated points in their respective seasons.
While Liverpool have dominated in the Premier League, Mike Arteta’s side have struggled to keep pace and suffered injuries to key personnel. United have moved from Erik ten Hag to Ruben Amorim but the Portuguese has had a tough start at Old Trafford, recently losing four games in a row.
Advertisement
For Arteta, after two second-place finishes to Manchester City in the league in the past two seasons, the cup offers the opportunity to add more silverware to his 2020 FA Cup victory. Amorim, meanwhile, would love to add a victory over Arsenal to an impressive draw at Anfield last weekend.
Here, Manchester United writer Carl Anka and his Arsenal counterpart Art de Roche discuss the cup, the managers, the tactics and a bit of history.
Anka: Erik ten Hag spent the early weeks of this season talking up winning two trophies in two years and last season’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester City was a high point in an otherwise dour season. United define themselves as winners. Winning trophies matters. And yet… facing a Premier League team as strong as Arsenal this early presents a complication.
Ruben Amorim has spoken about how the congested fixture list has meant he has only had limited training time with his squad, and there is a nagging feeling that getting knocked out of the FA Cup early might help United in the long run as the head coach gets more time at Carrington to communicate his tactical ideas. Beating Arsenal is always nice, and a run is always a good opportunity to build morale. But this is an odd speed bump for United.
De Roche: There was a definite sense of frustration after the 2-0 loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. Arsenal had chances to take the lead, but failing to do so resulted in their play becoming predictable, which only added to that feeling the longer the game went on.
Arsenal fans will feel reassured by the fact that they have beaten United in their last four visits to the Emirates Stadium, but will want to see more exciting football in the process. As for the FA Cup, they are proud to be the record holders of the competition (14 wins). Arteta winning the FA Cup in 2020 will always make it special when he is in charge, but the fourth round being the furthest they have progressed since then will need changing soon.
Anka: A decent draw against Liverpool last week has helped Amorim, and post-match interviews that mentioned how United could or should approach Southampton on January 16 hinted at where his attentions are focused.
From the outside looking in, it appears Arteta could do with a victory on Sunday; a victorious FA Cup campaign could calm grumbles within the Arsenal fanbase. Unfortunately, in the same season Manchester City have stumbled, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have been injured for prolonged periods and now a Premier League title looks further from view. Naysayers will say winning the FA Cup is not the achievement it used to be, but a confident cup run may serve as a reminder of the merits of Arteta’s ‘process’.
Advertisement
De Roche: This is a bigger game for Arteta, especially after the Newcastle defeat. Amorim is two months into the job, and while the FA Cup could provide an opportunity to showcase his coaching skills in one-off matches, his reign will not be dependent on their cup progress this year. As for Arteta, this could potentially be Arsenal’s fifth season without a major trophy since that FA Cup triumph in 2020.
There are already debates over whether the back-to-back second-place finishes in the league are enough, so having a tangible sign of the squad’s development as one of the country’s best in recent years feels important. Of course, that won’t come from just winning in the third round, but a win here could also set the tone for their return to Premier League and Champions League action.
Anka: I was born in the 1990s and raised on a steady diet of Arsenal v United matches that had Premier League title/silverware ramifications. These matches mean a lot to me — if you listen to the Talk of the Devils podcast, my accent will tip you off as to why — as well as a certain micro-generation of football fan that likes to be gobby on social media.
The era of Wenger vs Ferguson is over, but those who grew up on it love these games, and love having bragging rights over the other side. I want 90 minutes full of crunching tackles, fraught emotions and wonderful counter-attacking goals.
De Roche: I’m a Londoner, so naturally I grew up around a lot of Manchester United fans… For me, this fixture certainly has more meaning than most London derbies. Born in the late 90s, my experiences of it started with the later title clashes between the sides before sliding into the years when Arsenal struggled to lay a glove on United at Old Trafford.
The improvement against them in recent years has been great to see, but a proper scrap feels long overdue. Instead of just being the TL (timeline) derby, seeing that aggression return on the pitch would be more than welcome.
Anka: When the two sides met in early December, it was largely an attritional affair, solved by two goals from corners for Arsenal. A little over a month later, we’ll likely see the same again. Amorim has had more time to assess his squad (it is becoming increasingly clear that his best central midfield pairing is Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte), but there is still a way to go before United can be described as his team. Arsenal aren’t as fluent going forward as they were four to eight weeks ago (understandable once you lose a player as gifted as Saka), but they have a knack for grinding things out.
Advertisement
It’ll be interesting to see if either coach opts to rotate their starting XI for this game, given the midweek Premier League matches that follow. Arsenal have greater strength in depth and that might swing things.
De Roche: It is hard to see Arsenal playing too differently from the league match last month. Since then, their games have not changed much, which comes from Arteta’s desire for almost total control. The big thing will be whether they take their chances like they did against United in December, or like they did not against Newcastle in midweek.
Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz may allow them to play slightly differently, by having more attacking impetus from midfield. When used together of late, Havertz has pushed forward alongside Jesus to generate more threat in possession.
Aside from that, who Arteta deploys on the wings will be interesting. He started Leandro Trossard on the right for the first time since Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury against Newcastle, with Gabriel Martinelli moving back to the left. That combination led to Arsenal’s best chance of the game, but that came after a turnover rather than sustained possession. More spark will be needed this time around.
Anka: Oddly, it might be Declan Rice. And not simply because Saka is injured and he’s the other corner taker.
The future England captain (trust me) is a combative midfielder, skilled at stopping/slowing down the sort of counter-attacks that United often rely on to score goals. Rice is not the most progressive passer (which can be a problem for Arsenal when dealing with deep defences), but he’s been a thorn in United’s side in recent games between the two.
Rice was particularly tricky in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory at the start of last season (a game Ten Hag repeatedly brought up throughout the campaign). United players struggled to pick up his forays into pockets of space to keep possession ticking over, before he eventually got the go-ahead goal in the second half. A player United were once interested in signing now pesters them again and again.
Advertisement
De Roche: This is probably the obvious answer, but Amad. I understand there may have been an element of Amorim’s early rotation of the side that meant he did not start in the league game, but he was a threat within minutes of coming on. Getting Oleksandr Zinchenko booked in one of his first actions, Arsenal will be in trouble if they allow Amad to dribble or pick up the ball in space like they did with Alexander Isak in midweek.
Going off recent performances, 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly objectively feels like the best suited to deal with that threat. Riccardo Calafiori has had a decent debut season at Arsenal, but Lewis-Skelly is a proactive and physical defender in a way that would be more effective.
Anka: Both teams to score. The game to go to extra time. A late goal to deny us a fun/nerve-shredding penalty shootout.
De Roche: Seeing the pattern of recent Arsenal matches, I feel this will be more tense than fun. United will feel confident after their trip to Liverpool which could work in Arsenal’s favour as it may leave more space for them to exploit. With that in mind: 2-1 Arsenal.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
