Here we are folks – it’s match day!

And what a start we have to it, eh? United away. I know they won’t be the force of 20 years ago, or even five years ago, but this is still Man United and it’s still a place that hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for us in the past. I read on Opta Analyst this morning that we’ve won twice in 18 (10 defeats and six draws) up there and in those 18 times, there have been plenty of instances where we’ve been better than United over the years, but they’ve still managed to pick up points against us. So if you think I’m underestimated the possibility of us dropping points today, you’d be very wrong indeed, my friend.

And with everyone around us winning yesterday, it already feels like we’ve got ourselves a ‘must win’ game today, which is mental when you think about it. It’s game week one, for crying out loud, but if you’re going to compete for the title you have to go away from home to tough grounds like this and pick up wins at the ‘bigger’ clubs.

United and their fans will be well up for this. There will be renewed hope with their forward line and they’ll be hoping to get a bit of a scalp to underline that renewed hope that they can fully consign last season to the bin. So what we need today is to keep them quiet because if within that first half the front line isn’t given too many opportunities (which we’re very capable of doing with our back line), I think there might be a bit of disquiet that starts to permeate through the stadium, which gives us the advantage.

Arteta has some decisions to make on the line up and squad today. Our squad has enough depth to it that there could be some very big names missing fromthe match day team, which is testament to the work that has been done this summer. You can only name nine subs and if the line up is like the one I’ve picked below, there could be players like Kiwior, Zinchenko or Fabio Vieira missing today. If you think that Kepa, Mosquera, Timber, MLS, Norgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Madueke, Havertz and Dowman could all make the bench, that’s a strong line up that leaves out a bunch of what you’d think are first teamers.

In terms of what I think Arteta will do, I suspect we’ll line up like this:

Raya

White   –   Saliba   –   Gabriel   –   Calafiori

Zubimendi

Odegaard   –   Rice

Saka   –   Gyokeres   –   Martinelli

two weeks ago I would have told you that there’s absolutely no way Arteta isn’t starting Havertz, but the fact that Gyokeres started against Bilbao and did so well, I think was a sign of where Arteta’s head was at for today. Havertz has also been injured in pre season so perhaps there’s an element of easing him back in. Regardless of that, you see that bench I mentioned above and suddenly we’ve got options. I haven’t even mentioned Trossard, who might also make the bench if he’s managed to shake off the knock he’s had (Arteta was hopeful he would). You could make a case for Madueke to start too, but I think the defensive duties and fact that he’s the incumbent means that I think Arteta gives Martinelli the nod and tells him to impress or Noni is having his shirt next week.

United will be set up to counter us and so it feels like that running power is important, but I do wonder what we’ll do with Saka today. I listened to an excellent discussion on the Arsenal Vision podcast in which Clive talked about the ‘Salahfication of Saka’ and I liked the sound of it. Clive talked about how Liverpool leave Salah up rather than tracking back and it stretches the pitch more. I haven’t seen too much of Arsenal throughout pre season, but apparently we’ve been doing that more with Saka staying high rather than falling back into our defensive shape and having him drop in to support White of Timber on the right, so if we are going to do that it’ll be interesting. It will also be out of character of an Arteta side; we’re great without the ball and our shape and ability to set ourselves in our defensive structures is elite. The idea that Arteta is going to have a player where he gives free reign to just stay away from the out of shape stuff seems fanciful, but if Arteta is to prove that he’s the elite manager we all hope he is, then moving away from some of his guiding principles is perhaps the next step he needs to take. So I like the idea of us having a Saka who can worry opponents by not moving into that defensive position out of the ball and I’m intrigued to see if we do it today.

The other decisions will obviously be at left back and I’ve gone for Calafiori rather than MLS for no other reason than it’s what we saw against Bilbao, plus I have a feeling that with United’s midfield being what it is, he can operate in that area of the pitch as well as covering his left back duties well enough. There will be plenty of games that are ‘MLS games’, but today just feels like it’s a day for Riccardo.

United’s midfield consisting of Bruno Fernandes and Ugarte feels like one that is get-able to me. Odegaard Rice and Zubimendi should be strong enough in that one, then it becomes a game in which we have to hope our attacking players can get space in behind their wing backs. That’s where Zubi will be key because his quick distribution of the ball when they do venture forward needs to be where we play. I want to see turnovers and quick movement because if our build up play is slow, United will just sit back into a back five and have their two midfielders anchored in front of that defence, which will make for a tough watch.

Fingers crossed that isn’t the case though and we can get space and create chances.

I hate going to United so often when they are not great and dropping points. Can we not have that today please?

Catch you tomorrow for a de-brief, but if you want something sooner Amanda and James are going live after the final whistle here.