Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been warned that Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim could exploit one particular weakness in Wednesday's tantalising Premier League battle with the Red Devils.
The two old foes are reuniting on the back of respective emphatic victories in gameweek 13, as Arsenal ran riot in the first half of a 5-2 win over West Ham United while Man United hit Everton for four without reply.
The Gunners have won each of their last three Premier League games against the Red Devils and could now beat them four times in a row in the top flight for the first time ever, although they would need to end Amorim's unbeaten start to life in the Man United dugout to do so.
Previewing the game for Sports Mole, Arsenal expert Charles Watts also highlighted the defensive flaws of Riccardo Calafiori, who is left trailing in an attacker's wake "two or three times a game" and could be in for a rough ride against an in-form Amad Diallo.
"I look at where Arsenal's potential weaknesses are. You look down that left-hand side, Calafiori's got the attributes to be a hell of a defender. I'm really excited by what he's going to turn into, but he can get caught out," Watts said. "Two or three times a game, you see someone getting behind Calafiori, and I imagine United might well target that with Amad down that side and potentially Rashford moving over to that side as well, looking at how they played against Everton.
"They are dangerous on the counter-attack, United. Marcus Rashford's got a very good record scoring at the Emirates as well, counter-attacking goals. Arsenal are going to have to watch out for that."
Calafiori was memorably dragged out of position for Erling Haaland's opening goal in Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Manchester City in September, and both he and Leandro Trossard failed to stop Aaron Wan-Bissaka from latching onto Carlos Soler's through ball to score at the weekend.
Watts backing Arsenal win against Man United despite Calafiori concern
Amorim has already got one over Arteta in the 2022-23 Europa League last 16 while in charge of Sporting Lisbon, but even though Watts would rather have Arsenal coming up against Erik ten Hag this week, he still believes that the Gunners will have too much in the tank for Man United.
"I'd certainly prefer to see Ten Hag in the dugout on Wednesday night. Always made you feel confident you'd get a win over United when Ten Hag was in charge," Watts added. "The Everton game is strange because Everton were actually good, they looked like the better team before the first goal went in. They had some chances, didn't take them, and then they just crumbled and defensively, it was most un-Sean Dyche-like defensive performance you've seen. It was just gifting Manchester United goals.
"You know what you're going to get from United. Even with this change of manager, they'll look to play on the counter-attack. Amad seems like he's playing very, very well at the moment. Rashford got himself a couple of goals at weekend as well. But if Arsenal play the way they've been playing in the last couple of games, they should be too strong for United at home.
"This is a different United side, but still one that's getting to understand what the manager wants. And I would expect Arsenal to win this game, providing, they meet the standards that have shown in the last week or so."
Arsenal and Man United will be crossing paths for the 241st time in all competitions on Wednesday evening before also meeting in the third round of the FA Cup next month, but what was once a fierce head-to-head between the two title favourites in the late 1990s and early 2000s has since become a meeting of the also-rans.
Nevertheless, the highly-anticipated fixture will always have its place in English football folklore thanks to the plethora of iconic moments that it has thrown up, including Man United's 8-2 demolition in 2011, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira's tunnel skirmish at Highbury and Arsene Wenger being surrounded by boisterous home fans after being sent off at Old Trafford.
Wenger's long-running feud with Sir Alex Ferguson also added plenty of fuel to the pre-game fire, and Watts can always sense a "hell of an atmosphere" at Arsenal vs. Man United games nowadays, even if the two sides are no longer scrapping for title supremacy.
Has the Arsenal vs. Man United rivalry lost its sparkle?
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"My favourite era growing up watching football was that time," Watts said. "It was unbelievable for everyone. You experienced it, whether you're an Arsenal or United fan or anyone else. Watching those games was always such a highlight of the season. It was so much fire in those games. The hostility, the dislike between the two teams. It was brilliant. It's always fun to sort of dip into that nostalgia whenever Arsenal or United rolls around.
"But, it is a very different game now. And it doesn't quite have that rivalry that it used to. But it's still two of England's most successful ever clubs meeting. It's always a hell of an atmosphere at these games. I'm really looking forward to it. We're going to get used to it because we've got them in the FA Cup as well on the third round.
"Arsenal's last three draws in the FA Cup have been Man City, Liverpool, and Man United. Not getting too much luck in that. And that's going to be stuck just before the Tottenham North London derby as well. I can just imagine Mikel Arteta's head dropping when he was watching that draw. Not because it was United, but just because he would have been hoping that weekend he would just rotate, use the squad.
"But now it's sandwiched in between Brighton away and the North London derby. You've got Man United at home. So, it's not ideal for Arsenal. But we'll think about that when we get to that point. On Wednesday night, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a really good game. It's a big game. It's got an edge to it. And, it's just a massively important one for Arsenal as well."
Man United head to the Emirates having been dealt a double selection blow at the weekend, as Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season, meaning that they will both miss the encounter through suspension.
Meanwhile, Arsenal lost all of Thomas Partey, Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly to injury before taking on West Ham, while Gabriel Magalhaes - scorer of their first goal - was taken off at the break after the problem that he picked up against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League flared up.
Could Arsenal receive any injury boosts for Man United game?
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Arteta only offered a coy injury update in his pre-game press conference, but Watts is confident that neither Partey nor Gabriel have serious issues and is also not reading too much into Calafiori's early withdrawal at the London Stadium.
"In terms of Thomas Partey, my understanding that there is a chance, there is a hope that he's going to be fit," Watts said. "He went with the squad to West Ham. He was at the stadium. So it must have been a very, very late call. My understanding of that, it's not a bad one.
"As soon as Thomas Partey gets injured, as an Arsenal fan, you're just like, 'oh, here we go, five, six weeks out of a muscle injury' because it's just what we've become accustomed to. And he's not had that this season, it's been a real positive. It doesn't sound like it's bad. They're certainly hoping that he's going to get some training in this week. Whether that comes a little bit too soon for Wednesday night, we'll see. But hopefully, even if it does, it means he'll be okay for the weekend. So it doesn't feel like that's going to be a long one.
"I think Gabriel will be fine. He played the first half with the issue that he had ahead of the game against West Ham. I think Mikel just looked at it, 5-2 up at half time, big games coming up, just get Kiwior on, give Kiwior 45 minutes and take Gabriel out of the firing line. I saw him running over to the Arsenal fans at full time celebrating. They're all singing his song and he stayed out there last out of everyone. So he looked fine in that regard.
"Calafiori obviously has been, kind of felt like he'd been struggling with an issue since he's arrived at Arsenal. He's had quite a few of them, whether that's just adjusting to the demands of the Premier League, we'll wait and see, but it didn't look too serious.. So I don't think there's anything majorly wrong with the Arsenal squad. I think there'll be late calls made on pretty much all of them, but it wouldn't surprise me if we see pretty much everyone fit and available for United on Wednesday."
Arsenal sit seven places and six points better off than Man United in the Premier League standings heading into Wednesday's mouthwatering match, although they still have a nine-point deficit to make up to rampant leaders Liverpool.
Ben Knapton
