Arsenal v Manchester Utd predictions and free football tips: Ascending Arsenal

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Arsenal v Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Arsenal
2pts 15-8 general

Team news

Arsenal
Martin Odegaard could feature for the first time and Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could return. Thomas Partey and Emile Smith-Rowe failed to finish the game against Saints and will be assessed.

Manchester United
Eric Bailly suffered a knock which forced him to miss out against Sheffield United and Marcos Rojo (calf), Brandon Williams (knock) and Phil Jones (knee) are ruled out.

Match preview

Arsenal's season has been transformed by a run of five wins in six league games since Christmas Day and they can keep that charge going with a win over Manchester United at the Emirates.

The Gunners are looking to climb up to the Champions League places and second-placed United are among the clubs they will be hoping to catch.

Ten points separate the teams but United could be getting nervous after their 13-match Premier League unbeaten run came to an end with a dismal 2-1 loss at home to Sheffield United.

It has been a strange season for every club with lots of surprise results but the manner of United's midweek defeat is likely to have concerned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Red Devils were up against a resolute Blades defence but made the opposition's task far too easy by playing with a lack of tempo and creativity.

Changes are sure to be made and the shake-up may include recalls for energetic midfield duo Scott McTominay and Fred and centre-forward Edinson Cavani.

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However, it is still hard to have full confidence in United, who have gone six matches without a league win over big-six opposition since a 2-0 success at home to Manchester City in March 2020.

While Solskjaer looks for a response, Mikel Arteta will be asking for more of the same after watching Arsenal cruise to a 3-1 victory at Southampton on Tuesday.

The Gunners were up against an injury-hit Saints side but did the job impressively and showed no lack of composure despite falling behind to Stuart Armstrong's third-minute goal.

The performance will have given Arteta a nice selection headache because he may have some big players ready to step into the side.

Influential left-back Kieran Tierney is highly likely to regain his place if he recovers from a minor injury and Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard could be considered if Emile Smith Rowe fails to recover from a knock.

Smith Rowe and Bakary Saka have been two of the brightest sparks in Arsenal's recent revival and there have been signs of improvement from big-money signing Nicolas Pepe, whose well-taken goal began the recovery on Tuesday.

Arsenal are playing with such confidence that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – their talisman in recent seasons – has not been massively missed, and there is no need for Arteta to pressurise the 31-year-old into returning to the side.

There are limits to what Arsenal can achieve due to the early-season damage done but the 18 remaining games offer them plenty of scope to put pressure on the teams above them and three more points could be chalked up this weekend.