Arsenal will look to forget their 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford earlier this season when Manchester United visit the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday afternoon in what has been billed as the match of the week in the Barclays Premier League.
The reverse fixture, which was played in the third week of the season saw a young Manchester United side pile on the misery on a hapless Arsenal outfit at the Theater of Dreams β Old Trafford.
A lot has happened since then which makes me wonder that this one is going to be a really close contest. Arsene Wenger signed three players β Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos β on deadline day in August and while he deals with the loss of Alexander Song, Marouane Chamakh, and Gervinho to the African Cup of nations, Wenger has brough back club legend Thierry Henry back to the fold on a loan deal for a couple of months.
At Manchester, we have not really seen a power shift, but there is reason to believe that for United, that is a disaster waiting to happen any moment. After a flying start to the season, bad injuries to half their squad coupled with a rallying Manchester City has seen the Red Devils surrender top spot. To sooth the nerves though, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has brought back Paul Scholes for one last hurray before he bids a final goodbye at the end of this season.
Now, let us get straight to the team news from the two camps. Arsenal are going to start with Wojciech Szczesny at goal while Johann Djorou, Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, and Andre Santos form the defense. Tomasz Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, and Mikel Arteta will start in the middle of the park with Theo Walcott and Thierry Henry on the wings. Robin van Persie will be the lone man up front.
Manchester United will start with Anders Lindegaard at goal following his clean sheet against Bolton last weekend and David De Gea being diagnosed with an eyesight problem. Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic are out for the season. Rafael, Johnny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, and Patrice Evra start in defense with Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick in the middle of the park. Nani and Antonio Valencia will be on the wings with Wayne Rooney up ahead with Javier Hernandez for company unless Danny Welbeck recovers on time.
The signs are bright for this match-up. Man United v Arsenal used to be close matches until seven years ago and I have an inkling that with Henry back at Arsenal, sparks will fly. I canβt wait to see Scholes mistiming a tackle and shoot from distance, or Thierry Henry score a trademark goal. Let the derby begin.