Wounded Arsenal can still stifle old rivals Man United

Arsene Wenger rarely seems to get a moment’s peace these days, and heading into a huge clash with rivals Manchester United this weekend, the Arsenal boss has plenty on his mind.

The Frenchman has been near ridiculed in the press following his decision to drop sole-summer signing Petr Cech for David Ospina for Tuesday night’s Champions League tie with Olympiacos.

Ospina promptly produced a clanger, and while in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t the sole deciding factor in the Gunners’ 3-2 defeat, it certainly added fuel to the flames over Wenger’s future at the club.

Arsenal head into this fixture as 21/20 favourites, while a draw is available at 12/5.

League leaders Manchester United head to the Emirates in fine form and can be supported at 14/5 with Ladbrokes to win the match.

The Red Devils have claimed three straight league wins following the signing of Anthony Martial, and showed a steely nature to overcome Wolfsburg 2-1 in their European fixture this week.

Arsenal may have looked good in beating Leicester 5-2 last week, but there’s no escaping the fact that they haven’t beaten their old rivals in eight league meetings.

United have lost just one of their last six trips to north London, and claimed a 2-1 victory at Arsenal last season.

If the Gunners are to make any headway this time around, they’ll be hoping Alexis Sanchez continues his form from last weekend.

The Chilean opened his account with a hat-trick over Leicester, and Ladbrokes have enhanced Sanchez to score and Arsenal to win from 5/2 to 7/2.

For the visitors, they would surely take great joy in seeing Martial – dubbed the next Thierry Henry – score at the Frenchman’s former club and Ladbrokes are feeling plenty generous this weekend by also boosting Martial to score and Man United to win from 5/1 to 7/1.

Despite the excitement this fixture always produces, aside from the famous (or infamous – depending on who you support) 8-2 win for United in 2011, this game has seen under 3.5 goals in each of the last 12 meetings.

At 4/11 for under 3.5 goals, more value may be had in the 2-3 goal bands price at evens, a market which would have paid out in six of the last eight meetings.

Man United’s last four wins over the Gunners have all come by a single-goal margin, and bearing in mind Arsenal’s poor recent history in this fixture, the 4/1 on United to win by one-goal could be shrewd.

However the game goes, you can be sure there’ll be a stream of talking points to last through until next week, and remember, Ladbrokes are giving Money Back as a Free Bet if Both Teams Score on selected losing markets.

For full T&Cs on the offer click here.

This game also features in Ladbrokes’ Sharp Shooter offer. If you back a goalscorer and he nets the opener inside the first 25 minutes of the match Ladbrokes will pay double odds!

Full Sharp Shooter T&Cs can be found here.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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