Greetings Gooners! Welcome to another edition of the soon-to-be award-winning (maybe) “Who is it this week?”

Here’s the last post that came before the 2-0 North London Derby defeat.

This week, we’re at home to Manchester United.

The Managers

Arsenal

Here’s Arsene Wenger’s press conference ahead of the game.

On Arsenal’s form against the top teams: “I felt away from home we failed in big games yes, and didn’t take enough points. Difficult to explain because last season it was the reverse. There was a turning point at Everton and Man City where we lost two games on the trot. It took our confidence away from us.”

On Oxlade-Chamberlain’s form and potential new deal: “His performances have been convincing and positive. It looks like he makes a move forward. He has all the qualities to play well there. Hopefully it will give him confidence. Personally I think he has to commit his future to the club and I hope he will do so this summer.”

On the Mourinho feud: “I do not make of it a managers fight. What I want is that my team turns up and plays with a strong performance.”

Manchester United

This will be the 17th time Wenger and Mourinho have faced each other in all competitions. Arsene has won just once before against the Portuguese boss – that was in the 2015 Community Shield at Wembley.

In their 12 Premier League clashes, Mourinho has won five times and there have been seven draws. Most of those draws came at Arsenal. In fact, Mourinho has only won once at Arsenal in the Premier League (2-0 at Highbury in December 2005).

The rivalry between the pair has produced some terrific quotes over the years. Wenger has been called a “voyeur” and “specialist as failure” and Mourinho once said that Chelsea have a “file of quotes from Mr Wenger about Chelsea Football Club”, a file of “120 pages” apparently. This Arsenal boss has hit back several times though. The Frenchman once quipped “when you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent.”

How’s your form?

Arsenal

The Gunners will be looking to bounce back from the 2-0 loss to Spurs last week. That ended a run of three successive victories – our best run of form since January. I’d like to say history is on our side in terms of bouncing back from a defeat but you only have to go back to March to find the last time we’ve lost two in a row in the League. Looking for a good omen? We’ve only once lost the Premier League game directly after a North London Derby defeat in the Wenger era. That’s something, right? Have you ever seen someone clutch at straws so firmly?

Last 5 (all competitions): LWWWL

P: 33 W: 18 D: 6 L: 9 F: 64 A: 42 Pts: 60 Pos: 6th

Manchester United

United haven’t lost a League game since October, when they were hammered 4-0 at Chelsea. They’re currently on a run 25 League games without defeat. United have the second best defence in the League and the joint-fewest number of defeats but they have drawn 14 games this season – more than any other team. They sit five points clear of Arsenal in the table, having played one game more than the Gunners.

Last 5: WWDDW

P: 34 W: 17 D: 14 L: 3 F: 51 A: 25 Pts: 65 Pos: 5th

Team News

Arsenal

Granit Xhaka is most likely out of the game. He picked up a calf injury in the loss to Spurs last weekend. Shkodran Mustafi is back in normal training though. He’s been out since the defeat to Crystal Palace.

David Ospina is back and fully fit. Lucas Perez is back in training but will miss the next couple of days still.

Manchester United

United could be stretched pretty thin this weekend. Marcus Rashford limped off against Celta Vigo and Ashley Young also went off injured in that game.

They are already without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luke Shaw, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Marcos Rojo through injury. Marouane Fellaini is suspended.

Head-to-Head

This will be the 225th time that Arsenal and Man United have met. United hold the advantage with 96 wins to Arsenal’s 81. There have been 41 draws, including their most recent meeting back in November.

The first time they played was back in October 1894. It finished 3-3 between Newton Heath and Woolwich Arsenal in the Division Two match.

They first met at Arsenal five months later and it finished 3-2 to the home side. Arsenal won eight of ten home matches against United in their Division Two days.

March 1907 was the first time Arsenal hosted United in the top flight and it was a day to remember for the home side – we won it 4-0.

One of our biggest wins over Man United occurred the first time they faced each other in the FA Cup at Highbury. The Gunners thumped United 5-0 in the 4th round in 1937. Arsenal also put five past Chesterfield and hit Burnley for seven in that Cup campaign – but were beaten by West Brom in the quarter-final.

That 5-0 win isn’t the most amount of goals we’ve put past United though. Arsenal beat them 6-2 at Highbury in 1947. 36-year old forward Ronnie Rooke bagged a hat-trick.

This weekend sees Arsenal and Man United meet for the 50th time in the Premier League era. Arsenal have 12 wins so far to United’s 22. The 1-1 at Old Trafford in November was their 15th PL draw.

United won the first PL meeting 1-0 at Highbury, thanks to a Mark Hughes goal. It took Arsenal seven Premier League matches before they finally got a win over United – that was also a 1-0 at Highbury, courtesy of a Dennis Bergkamp goal.

Arsenal have won just two of the last twelve PL matches against United – both came at the Emirates.

To count back on our last five wins at home against Man United in the League, you need to go all the way back to 2001. The Red Devils have won four times at Arsenal in that same period of time.

That’s Interesting

Arsene Wenger lost both of his first two games in charge against United but then went on a four game winning streak against them – including a 3-0 Charity Shield victory in 1998.

Wenger’s biggest win over United came in November 2001. Arsenal beat them 4-0 in a League Cup game on a Monday night (sorry there’s no audio). Amazingly, the game was played a little over 24 hours after both sides had played in the Premier League. Arsenal lost 4-2 to Charlton and United were beaten 3-1 at Anfield just a day before their Cup clash. The game was initially rescheduled due to United’s Champions League commitments and then again to accommodate an England game.

One of the highest scoring games between these sides saw United win 5-4 at Highbury in 1958. This game is significant in that is is the final match Man United played in England before the Munich air disaster. Five members of United’s starting XI against Arsenal died in the tragedy – Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards (though Edwards survived the crash, he died 15 days later in hospital.) Both Taylor and Edwards scored in the nine-goal thriller at Arsenal.

In the Premier League era, there have been more goals scored in this fixture at Arsenal (Highbury and the Emirates) than there has been at Old Trafford – 63 to 56. This is despite having played one game more at United (and despite a couple of unmentionable drubbings).

Just four English players have scored at home for Arsenal against Man United in the Premier League – Paul Merson, David Platt, Tony Adams and Theo Walcott. United have had six Englishmen hit the target at Arsenal in the same period – including Danny Welbeck, who got the winner for them in January 2012.

Thierry Henry is the highest Arsenal scorer against Man United in the Premier League with eight goals. Danny Welbeck and Robin Van Persie are the only two players to have found the net for both sides in games between them.

We all know about the feisty affairs these two sides have had in the past. There’s been a couple of “Battles of Old Trafford”, “Pizza-gate”, points deductions, fines and suspensions. However, when they meet at Arsenal, it tends to be a less controversial or at least a less card-ridden encounter. There hasn’t been a red card in this fixture since February 2005, when Mikael Silvestre was given his marching orders. The last Arsenal player to see red at home to United was Sol Campbell back in April 2003.

If Arsenal win on Sunday, it will be the first time since November 2001 that the Gunners have won consecutive home League matches against United.

Alexis Sanchez scored twice against Man United last season. If he can do that again on Sunday, he’d make it to 50 Premier League goals for Arsenal. He’d become just the 8th player to reach the milestone for the Gunners – following in the footsteps of Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, RVP, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Robert Pires.

How about some goals?

And that’s that…

So there it is – everything you needed to know and every goal you needed to see to get hyped for the match. Kick off is at 4pm on Sunday. A win is essential to keep the fight for the Top Four alive. Victory would also put us to within two points of United with a crucial game in hand. If nothing else, getting a win over Mourinho and ending their unbeaten run would be fantastic.

I’ll be back in a few days to preview our next match at Southampton on Wednesday night.

Thanks for reading!