Manchester United vs Arsenal Preview – Premier League 2025-26 | Form, Injuries, Lineups & Prediction

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·15 de agosto de 2025

Manchester United vs Arsenal Preview – Premier League 2025-26 | Form, Injuries, Lineups & Prediction

Manchester United vs Arsenal Preview: Manchester United kick off their Premier League campaign to once bitter rivals Arsenal. A very significant fixture for the club, trying to forget the events of last season. While Arsenal will be looking to kick on from last season trying to avoid losing any early ground on potential Title rivals.

The Super Sunday fixture is the pick of the bunch on the opening weekend. But recently it has struggled to live up the the legendary clashes that the older fans of both clubs would remember. The days of Fergie vs Wenger and Keane vs Vieira might be over but can this fixture still produce fireworks, the new battle could be between Sesko and Gyokeres.

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Manchester United have had a mixed pre-season. Kicking off with a boring 0-0 draw with Leeds in Stockholm. Where fans got their first glimpse of Matheus Cunha. United then travelled to the US for the Premier League Summer Series. Starting the friendly tournament strong with two victories against West Ham 2-1 and Bournemouth 4-1. Followed by a 2-2 draw with Everton, enough to secure the trophy. The final pre-season game saw De Gea welcomed back to Old Trafford with his new side Fiorentina. Which United went on to win on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Arsenal arrive at Old Trafford in better shape. With their statement 3-0 win over Athletic Club. Where new signing Viktor Gyökeres scored his first goal for the club. Showing a clear statement of intent for the upcoming season. The rest of the pre-season is a bit of a mixed bag for Arsenal. With two victories (Newcastle & AC Milan) and two defeats (Tottenham & Villarreal).

Head-to-Head Record

The last 5 meetings between the clubs in the Premier League have been dominated by Arsenal. With 4 wins to the Gooners and 1 draw. Last time round the game ended as a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. A disappointing but fair result on the day. Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring just before half-time with a long-range free kick. Later followed by the equaliser from Declan Rice in the second half. That result meant that Liverpool were now 15 points clear of Arsenal. Only needing 4 more wins for the record-equalling 20th title.

Injury News & Suspensions

Manchester United will be without long-term absentee Lisandro Martinez, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury in February.

Ayden Heaven came off the field with what looked like a thigh injury in the sides last pre-season game against Fiorentina. We are yet to hear about the extent of the injury from the club.
Andre Onana notable miss in pre-season was goalkeeper Andre Onana. Who is the most likely to make his return against Arsenal this weekend.
Joshua Zirkzee is close to returning but likely to miss out.
Noussair Mazraoui return is unknown with the player currently doing rehabilitation work.

Arsenal

Leandro Trossard missed the last pre-season game. But manager Mikel Arteta is confident he will be okay for the trip to Old Trafford.

“He had a little niggle in the groin – but he should be fine.”

Gabriel Jesus return date is still unknown.

Injury Summary Table

Manager Quotes

Manager press conference quotes are currently unavailable.

Tactical Preview & Key Battles

1. Major dilemma for Amorim is who will partner Bruno in the midfield pivot.

Both Casemiro and Ugarte have failed to form solid partnership with Bruno in the Amorim era so far and there is no evidence from the preseason that it can improve through this season. The use of Bruno in deeper role also minimizes his best trait which is to create the high Xg chances from no.10 position and also risks United being vulnerable in defensive transitions. So it is the area where Arsenal can have a field day with their settled midfield further reinforced by Zubimendi who can control the flow of game on his own.

Arsenal are also expected to have the majority of the ball as Amorim seems contend to let oppositions have most of the possession as has been the evidence in pre season, where Everton and West Ham dominated the possession against United

2. Another area where Arsenal can exploit Manchester United is to apply man-to-man press which has been the Achilles’ heal for United throughout the pre season where teams have causes lots of problems to Amorim’s side.

Hence Arsenal will feel they are ought to win this match on paper as well as tactically. But the adrenalin of the rivalry always brings the best out of Manchester United which Arsenal need to be wary of. The best way for United to hurt Arsenal is to overload their right hand side with combinations of Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo in conjunction with Yoro’s ability to carry the ball from right center half position and then switch to the left where Dorgu has been found to be impressive in the pre season.