Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes there is still an ‘aura’ surrounding the rivalry between the north London side and Manchester United.
The two Premier League giants meet on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford, with the Gunners facing the possibility of climbing to the top of the Premier League, while the Red Devils will look to climb up the table and close on the top four.
While the rivalry is not near as fierce as it once was, the Frenchman, as reported by the club’s official website, admitted that Old Trafford is still a tough place to go.
Yes [it still has an aura] because Manchester United are a big club, Old Trafford is a special place and I believe for every club it remains a special fixture.
Against Arsenal, the United fans and players will be up for it.
In one week all has changed. I didn’t believe that they would lose against Shrewsbury and Midtjylland. Old Trafford is always a difficult place to go and even if they had lost against Midtjylland, I would have said that it is a difficult game.
I watched [United debutant] Marcus Rashford last night and he was quite impressive. I didn’t know Rashford but I knew all the other ones. It’s quite simple to prepare. I’m convinced that the first thing needed is to prepare for a strong performance on our side.
We are in a strong position in the league, that’s for sure, but there’s still a long way to go. Winning at Old Trafford in 1998 put us on a good run, but the second time [in 2002] we knew that if we won there we would become champions. It was a decisive game which is the case again on Sunday.
United have improved in their form as of late, winning their last two fixtures against Shrewsbury on Monday evening in the FA Cup before beating Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League by five goals to one.
Despite this, their league form is poor, winning just two of their last six games and most recently losing at the Stadium of Light to Sunderland.
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