Arsenal and Manchester United may no longer be the bitter rivals of yesteryear when they directly contested for every single Premier League title, but there’s still little love lost between two clubs who remain near the very top of the English game.
History continues to play a huge part in that; from Martin Keown mocking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss to Cesc Fabregas throwing a pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson, old wounds still haven’t quite healed – while Jose Mourinho’s ongoing feud with Arsene Wenger adds yet another enticing subplot for the latest instalment this weekend.
So, can the history of this fixture in the Premier League tell us anything about what to expect from Saturday’s 5.30pm kickoff? Football FanCast takes a look…
Head-to-Head
With both at the very pinnacle of the Premier League until Chelsea’s emergence in 2004, it’s perhaps surprising there’s such a significant difference in terms of wins between the two sides.
Indeed, Manchester United have claimed almost twice the amount of wins as Arsenal, and there have actually been more top flight draws during the last 25 years than Gunners victories. There are signs of that trend reversing, however; Arsenal took four points off United last season and have only lost one of the last five meetings, winning two.
United, though, will take great comfort in the fact they’ve claimed three wins and two draws from their last eight Premier League visits to the Emirates Stadium.
Top Scorer – Wayne Rooney
Arsenal inadvertently played a key role in announcing Wayne Rooney to the world as a teenager and throughout his career, no club has conceded more goals from the former England captain.
Nine of those 15 came in 24 Premier League appearances for United, making Rooney the all-time top scorer in this fixture. He’s closely followed by Thierry Henry, who notched up eight in 14 top flight appearances against United, failing to net past them during just two of his full Premier League campaigns.
Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck, meanwhile, have represented both sides of the Arsenal-United divide and most curiously, both have scored an even number of goals for each club in this fixture.
The Shared Icon – Robin van Persie
He may have broken a million hearts and earned the moniker Judas when he jumped ship to Old Trafford in 2012, but Robin van Persie was without a doubt Arsenal’s most talented player by a considerable distance. Eight seasons in north London produced 132 goals, three Premier League Goal of the Month awards, a Golden Boot and an FWA Player of the Year award – but just one piece of silverware from 2004/05.
Upon joining the Red Devils, van Persie instantly fired his new employers to the Premier League title, clinching a second consecutive Golden Boot in the process. It provided the parting gift Ferguson deserved, a final title before retiring, but that’s where RVP’s improtance to United started to wane. After scoring just 22 league goals in the following two seasons under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, the Dutchman was allowed to leave for Fenerbahce.
The Classic Clash – Man United 0-1 Arsenal
There have been far more entertaining clashes down the years in terms of goals, not least including a succession of heavy hammerings handed out by the Red Devils, but few, if any, have matched the significance of this meeting at Old Trafford in 2002 when Arsenal clinched the Premier League title on their rivals’ patch.
It was an ugly, bitter-fought game with few clear-cut chances – between a United side in transition and a Gunners outfit starting to evolve into the Invincibles – but Sylvain Wiltord remained a menace all afternoon and it was the Frenchman who eventually proved the difference. His counter-attacking run in the second half lead to a Freddie Ljungberg shot that Fabien Barthez could only manage to parry, leaving an onrushing Wiltord to tuck home the rebound.
United pushed for an equaliser but that only made them more open and in truth, the match could well have ended with a dominant scoreline in the visitors’ favour. Not that the scoreline truly mattered; this clash was all about the result.
