Manchester United were given free licence to kick Arsenal players without punishment, Jose Reyes was given special attention on the day. I am almost certain that Manchester United will have a similar approach this afternoon. They will be aggressive and look to deny us time and space which is the way to disrupt our game. If they go out to match us on the ball then they know that they will struggle so Manchester United will play to spoil. If they do have that approach then it is a great compliment to our squad. What I am unsure about is how we will approach the game. Will we go there not to lose as we did in Dortmund? I hope so. If we go to Old Trafford and take the game to them then we could be walking into their trap. Their trap of disruption, frustration and counter attacking. Alex Ferguson had done that to us so many times in the past but we are a far more experienced squad

I’ve been looking forward to this fixture since the season started, this is the one game I’d do many a naughty thing to see us win this game. There are rumours floating around that both Tomas Rosicky and Per Mertesacker will be unavailable due to flu. It has come from someone on Twitter so I’ll wait before getting worried about that.

I don’t think Rosicky would have played today even if he is fit. I am not sure if he has Liverpool, Dortmund and Manchester United in his legs in such a short space of time. Mertesacker would be a huge blow so I am not even going to entertain that thought for any longer.

I have been worried about our last two fixtures, worried about our drop off in form before the Liverpool game and then worried about the intensity of Dortmund. So I think it would only be right of me to be worried about this afternoon.

I cannot remember a time where so many people have said that we will be too much for Manchester United at Old Trafford. The home side are being looked at as the underdogs and that concerns me. It brings back memories of 2004 when this happened.

Manchester United were given free licence to kick Arsenal players without punishment, Jose Reyes was given special attention on the day. I am almost certain that Manchester United will have a similar approach this afternoon. They will be aggressive and look to deny us time and space which is the way to disrupt our game. If they go out to match us on the ball then they know that they will struggle so Manchester United will play to spoil. If they do have that approach then it is a great compliment to our squad.

What I am unsure about is how we will approach the game. Will we go there not to lose as we did in Dortmund? I hope so. If we go to Old Trafford and take the game to them then we could be walking into their trap. Their trap of disruption, frustration and counter attacking. Alex Ferguson had done that to us so many times in the past but we are a far more experienced squad, who can win games in many different ways. I hope we do not go out there with need to show that we are superior, let us just go there to collect the three points.

Flamini is back and would start alongside Arteta for me. We will need him alongside Arteta to stop Rooney and van Persie roaming into number 10 spaces. I think Manchester United will be a harder yet similar task to the Liverpool game. Stop van Persie and Rooney from getting space on the ball in dangerous areas and much of our job will be done.

I was hoping that we would have Theo Walcott on the bench as an option but I haven’t heard anything about that. It would be a lovely surprise to have him available but It’s kinda unlikely.

It would be amazing to win all three tough games this week and really inject full confidence in our players. An Arsenal win today would put us 11 points clear of last season’s champions and that is something we, the players and manager must not forget. While they are going through a sticky period, this squad along with additions were the best team in the league and we are playing them at their ground. But we are the form team and are very capable of producing a performance that will hand the points to us.

I’d happily take a draw now though.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

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