Emirates showdown
The marquee Premier League fixture of the upcoming weekend will see Arsenal and Manchester United face off in the English capital.
The two sides will of course head into proceedings at the Emirates on the back of altogether contrasting midweek fortunes.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners carried forth a fine recent spell of league form to make it 5 wins from 6, courtesy of a 3-1 downing of Southampton.
Manchester United, on the other hand, saw their title chances dealt a serious blow, en route to a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
Sheffield United have had no luck all season…
Maybe they were due a goal like this 😬
Oliver Burke gives The Blades the lead for the second time at Old Trafford! pic.twitter.com/xapKikRbZF
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 27, 2021
As such, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will be gunning for revenge when they make the trip to north London in 24 hours’ time, having also been comdemned to defeat in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford back in November.
Partey in/Auba out
And Arsenal, in turn, will no doubt be wary of the threat posed to their recent streak of excellence by the wounded Reds.
The task at hand, meanwhile, had been made to look even more daunting for Arteta’s men over the last couple of days, by the lack of word stemming from the club’s camp when it came to injuries.
Both Emile Smith Rowe and Thomas Partey were forced off during the Gunners’ win over Southampton on Tuesday, with their respective participation this weekend having since been thrown up in the air.
This came with Kieran Tierney having missed out completely at St. Mary’s, with a fitness problem of his own.
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND – JANUARY 02: Kieran Tierney of Arsenal celebrates with teammates Rob Holding, Dani Ceballos and Pablo Mari after scoring their team’s first goal during the Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal at The Hawthorns on January 02, 2021 in West Bromwich, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images)
If the latest photos doing the rounds online this evening are anything to go by, though, then Arsenal’s fans need not fret.
This comes with all of Smith Rowe, Partey and Tierney (alongside recent arrival Martin Odegaard) having participated fully in first-team training, alongside the rest of Mikel Arteta’s squad.
In turn, it appears safe to assume that the trio will be available for selection versus Man United:
Pictures from todays Arsenal training session #arsenal #arsenaltraining pic.twitter.com/jKLUjmOTwF
— Stuart MacFarlane 🎗📷 (@Stuart_PhotoAFC) January 29, 2021
Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe & Martin Ødegaard all took part in full training at London Colney today. 😍😍
[📸 @Stuart_PhotoAFC] #afc pic.twitter.com/YR198j59HQ
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) January 29, 2021
The news regarding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, on the other hand, is less encouraging.
As per the reliable Chris Wheatley, hitman Aubameyang will play no part on Saturday evening.
This comes with Arsenal’s captain having of course missed the club’s last two outings, whilst tending to his mother, who was dealing with what have been described as ‘health issues’.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won’t be available for tomorrow’s game against Manchester United. #AFC pic.twitter.com/lXo9VEhbyZ
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) January 29, 2021
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