Wenger faces Man United test
Under-fire Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is in
pressing need of a positive outcome as his side
prepare to welcome Premier League leaders
Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium this
Sunday.
Fourth-place Arsenal are only three points below
United, but Wenger's methods have once again
fallen under scrutiny following the London club's
abject 3-2 home defeat by Olympiakos in the
Champions League on Tuesday.
The result left Arsenal struggling to avoid a first
group-stage exit since 1999 and saw Wenger
aggressively rebuked in the British press for his
decision to select second-choice goalkeeper David
Ospina, who palmed a first-half corner into his own
net, instead of new signing Petr Cech.
Wenger came out fighting in his weekly press
conference on Friday, branding the media's focus
on Ospina "very, very, very, very boring" and
threatening to walk out when he was asked about
Jose Mourinho's claim that he is the only English
top-flight manager free from pressure.
Defeat at United's hands would only provide further
fuel for those critics who cite Arsenal's 11-year
wait for a league title and five successive last-16
eliminations in the Champions League as proof that
Wenger is presiding over a period of terminal
decline.
But Wenger would point to Arsenal's successive FA
Cup triumphs as evidence to the contrary and
having seen his team end Leicester City's unbeaten
start to the season with a 5-2 win at the King Power
Stadium last weekend, he is confident of a first
home win over United since May 2011.
"It is a special fixture because usually Man United
are always fighting at the top," said the Frenchman,
who shared a tumultuous rivalry with former United
manager Alex Ferguson between 1997 and 2005.
"It has an even bigger meaning now because there
are three points between the teams and we play at
home in a big game.
"We have just come from a big win at Leicester and
we want to continue our run. We are the only team
who has beaten (Leicester), so I don't see why we
should not believe we can beat Manchester United."
'I LIKE TO WIN'
United manager Louis van Gaal describes Wenger,
who this week celebrates 19 years with Arsenal, as
"one of the best coaches in the world", but says
that he would not like to endure a comparable
league title drought.
"I have won a lot of titles and I want to do that in
different countries," said Van Gaal, whose side beat
Wolfsburg 2-1 in the Champions League on
Wednesday to register a fourth successive victory.
"Not only in the Netherlands, but after that in Spain
and after that in Germany, and after that in England.
That's my ambition. I am not that type. I like to win
a lot."
Michael Carrick is available for United after missing
the Wolfsburg game with what Van Gaal described
as "tiredness", but it is not known if his fellow
midfielder Ander Herrera, who also sat out that
match, is fit.
While Cech is expected to come in for Ospina,
Arsenal will be without centre-back Laurent
Koscielny, who sustained a hamstring injury against
Olympiakos that saw him join Mathieu Flamini, Mikel
Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas
Rosicky on the sidelines.
Last season United won 2-1 at the Emirates, where
they have lost just once in seven visits, and Van
Gaal believes another victory would fuel belief that
his team can maintain their position until the end of
the campaign.
"I think you have to believe always in this (winning
the title) and I think the balance in our selection is
much better than last year," he said.
"And last year we also had the chance, so I believe
in that, but the most important thing is not only that I
believe, but that the players are believing in that.
"And when we win at Arsenal, then the belief shall
rise a lot."
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