Arsenal can keep unbeaten run going on Old Trafford visit

Premier League
BT Sport 1, 8pm Wednesday

Jose Mourinho won his sack race showdown with Mark Hughes on Saturday but the beleaguered Manchester United boss is still under massive pressure.

Mourinho is favourite once again in next-gaffer-to-go betting following Hughes’s dismissal by Southampton and a visit from buoyant Arsenal looks like the last thing the United boss needs.

A fixture that was all about title shootouts back in the Fergie-Wenger heyday has a very different feel about it this season, especially at Old Trafford, where Mourinho is crying out for a positive result.

A reputation for getting things right in big matches might encourage some punters to believe that this is the type of tussle where Mourinho delivers, and those results at Juventus and Chelsea demonstrate he can still get a tune out of his dysfunctional team when needs be.

But defensive concerns were magnified at St Mary’s on Saturday evening and that makes them look highly vulnerable against a Gunners outfit who bear little relation to the one Arsene Wenger left behind in May.

Arsenal, who have appeared flawed but are still unbeaten since August, look as though they can avoid defeat.

Unai Emery deserves plenty of praise for masterminding this 19-match unbeaten run, a streak which culminated in that thrilling 4-2 defeat of Spurs on Sunday afternoon.

It’s a different Arsenal under Emery, an Arsenal who will put their foot in and who will press the ball. Those defensive doubts which existed under Wenger are still there and it’s extraordinary how slowly they start matches – they’ve yet to be ahead at the interval in any of their 14 league games.

It shows, if nothing else, how well they finish matches – 75 per cent of the goals they’ve banged in this term (24 out of 32) have come in the second half of games. And against a United defence who are nowhere near full-strength and short of confidence, expect drama to the last.

United, on the other hand, just aren’t improving. They were poor at Southampton just as they had been against Crystal Palace a week before and as they have been so often. Neither Ander Herrera nor Marouane Fellaini is the solution. Paul Pogba should be but he’s simply not leading as a supposedly world-class player should.

Two clean sheets in 14 is perhaps to be expected from a team who have deployed eight different central defenders already. Title contenders in August, now their ambition is to finish above Everton. Could it get any sorrier?

Maybe they’ll surprise us all and turn it on but there’s virtually no evidence to suggest that’s worth betting on.

What punters are betting on, understandably, is goals, although the odds are inevitably short – both teams to score, for example, is a 1-2 shot, while over 2.5 is 7-10.

Arsenal’s matches top the Premier League goals parade at almost 3.6 per game with United’s matches not far behind. Only three keepers have made more saves than David de Gea this term while Petr Cech and Bernd Leno combined have produced more saves than even De Gea.

Each Arsenal match this term has produced at least two goals and this one looks unlikely to be any different.

Recommendation
Arsenal draw no bet
1pt 11-10 general

Bet on this match at soccerbase.com

Premier League standings

Team news
Man Utd
Ashley Young is suspended. Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez are out. Chris Smalling, Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones, Luka Shaw and Marcus Rashford are doubts.

Arsenal
Mesut Ozil (back) remains a doubt. Granit Xhaka is suspended. Nacho Monreal and Danny Welbeck are injured. Laurent Koscielny is fit again.

Key stat
Despite having lost only two of 14 in the league, the Gunners have yet to be ahead at half-time in any match.

Read every day for no-nonsense previews and expert sports betting tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport