Arsenal v Man Utd 8th November 2008 Preview
What a fantastic fixture this is. Memories of clashes over the years come back - mainly of the fierce midfield competition between Roy Keane and Patrick Viera that fueled the atmosphere. How much would Arsene Wenger love Viera in that midfield today which has lacked the physical prescence since his departure to Inter Milan three years ago. The new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has recently remarked on the physicality of the Premier League this season and Wenger has hinted that this is Arsenal's biggest weakness. The Gunners have lost three games this season and will know that the pressure is on to get something out of this game to keep up points wise and prove that they are still a dominant force in the race to win the Premiership.
“The morale is of course down when we don't win,” said Wenger, in a recent interview to club website arsenal.com.
“One week ago on Wednesday night we played very well against Tottenham and we didn't win. But it doesn't take away the fact that we played in a very convincing way. Afterwards at Stoke we had a lot of possession but we were not really sharp and I believe it was a hangover [from the Spurs game].
“Against Fenerbahce we dominated and had 70 per cent of possession but we didn't score. If we had scored and forced them to come out we could have scored plenty of goals.
“That’s why we have to keep winning, learn from what has happened to us and continue to believe in our strengths.
“But now we want to focus on Man United because it is a fantastic opportunity to show how strong we are when everyone is doubting us.”
Manchester United did show signs of a hangover from the 2007/2008 season after their Champions League and Premiership double. They are unbeaten in their last seven Premiership matches and Berbatov is showing signs of adding a fantastic new dimension to the creative energy that makes Man Utd a team that you can never write off despite Chelsea's machine like success so far this season. Wes Brown will miss the trip to the Emirates but Gary Neville will be available for selection.
Despite Arsenal's recent dip in form Alex Ferguson's guard will be up. In early November Arsenal are 20/1 to win the Premiership but Arsene Wenger will be drawing on his 12 years of Premiership experience today to grind out some points today.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United
