Sunday 17th May 2015, Old Trafford. Live on Sky Sports 1. Kick-Off 4:00pm.
Manchester United against Arsenal is circled in calendars well before the season starts and it means much more when league positions are on the line.
Fourth-placed United are two points shy of Arsenal in third with just two games remaining this term, and Louis Van Gaal’s side will be aiming to leapfrog their rivals when they entertain the Gunners in Sunday’s 4pm start.
The Red Devils were on a poor run of form – losing against Chelsea, Everton and West Brom without scoring – before they downed Crystal Palace on Saturday. A Juan Mata penalty and Marouane Fellaini’s second-half strike was enough to secure the 2-1 win.
Mata hasn’t played down the important of the game and wants to give the club’s faithful a fond farewell in their last home game of the campaign.
The Spanish midfielder told manutd.com, “It’s a game we have to win. We owe that to our fans: they have always been supportive throughout the season, when we played good and when we didn’t. We want to have a good farewell at Old Trafford for them.”
Arsenal were downed 1-0 against Swansea City last time out but had registered a goalless stalemate with champions Chelsea and a comfortable 3-1 success over Hull City in their two previous matches.
Following their defeat to Swansea, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claimed his side need to be more patient.
“It’s frustrating because we lost the game. It was a question of maybe finishing better, being patient and not to make a mistake at the back,” the 65-year-old explained.
“We were a bit unlucky on the goal, but guilty as well. It’s frustrating but we can take a lot of positives from tonight’s game.
“Unfortunately, these kind of games you play 20 times, you win 19 and you lose once, and it was the once tonight.”
It will be difficult to separate the two teams as, despite their recent poor form, Manchester United will be doing the upmost for a positive Old Trafford curtain-call while Arsenal are aiming to bounce back from last weekend’s disappointing result – you can back a draw at 5/2 with SkyBet.
Best Bet
Man Utd v Arsenal – Draw 5/2 SkyBet