Each team would like to believe that it embodies pretty much all that is right about English football, and both arguably have a solid claim. And both sets of fans hate each other. In other words, it’s a classic grudge match. Monday’s game may prove to be a bellwether, as it has the potential to set the winner on course to lead the league at Christmas. Thanks to the current British weather the match even has a sting in its tail: Arsenal lead the Premiership, but Manchester United are but a single point behind, and have a game in hand after last weekend’s match with Blackpool was postponed. As a result, a United victory Monday could effectively offer them a five-point cushion on the Gunners.
Both teams must now feel they can prevail in what has become one of the most wide-open Premiership races in recent memory. There’s not much distance between these two. Each are struggling with injuries and erratic form. We’ve seen little of thee well-oiled Arsenal attacking machine lately. And everyone is wondering when Wayne Rooney will reclaim center stage in Manchester where Carlos Tevez is suddenly the city’s star at Manchester’s “other” club.
But United have yet to lose a league game this season, despite getting little to date out of Rooney. The Red Devils, in fact, have only lost one game in any competition -- that 4-0 shocker in the Carling Cup to West Ham. Arsenal, on the other hand, are losing games at home, and seem to be struggling under the weight of expectations and players lost to injury.
There’s always been a rivalry between an Arsenal side long seen as the choice of the privileged, and the far more successful, but “second city” side of Manchester United. A decade ago, a bitter edge crept in, stemming from a long-simmering feud between Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger and Ferguson, which once exploded in a memorable post-game row that degenerated into a food fight between the teams.
The roots of the conflict were fairly standard. Ferguson has long been perceived as a bully by his colleagues. No one questions the Scot’s ability or genius, but many feel that he crosses a line with his repeated criticisms of officials. Wenger -- an almost polar opposite in terms of personality and heritage -- was unwilling to suffer Ferguson’s barbs, and began firing back with his characteristically intellectual wit. This merely ratcheted up the situation, as Ferguson, a man with stolidly lower-middle class roots, chafed at what rapidly became a feud with class overtones.
The funny thing is that both men are cut from the same cloth. Ferguson and Wenger were mediocre players who have made a career in management out of obsessive attention to detail on the pitch and a brilliant scouting network off of it. Both managers display an appetite for football that might stun even the most rabid fan and both, with cause, have been accused of cherry-picking talent from other teams. While Ferguson has the reputation of being more outgoing, it is in fact Wenger who can regularly be seen post-match at any one of the restaurants that ring Emirates, happy to chat with fans and journalists alike.
In the aftermath of what the English press dubbed “Pizzagate” -- the incident where Cesc Fabregas apparently flung a pie at Ferguson as the teams traded words and blows postgame in 2004 -- the two men have made a concerted effort to lower the tension. While it might surprise partisans, the two managers now seem to be on friendly terms, trading jokes and sharing dinner tables.
That hasn’t stemmed the feuding in the stands. United this week has urged their fans to stop some particularly offensive chants aimed at the Arsenal coach; Arsenal fans have particularly choice words for their counterparts as well. While the fixture is not considered “high risk” by the police, there will be a heavier contingent of security than usual at Old Trafford.
Both teams are currently depending too much on flashes of individual brilliance. United’s Dimitar Berbatov exploded for five goals a fortnight ago against Blackburn; there have been important goals for Nani and Patrice Evra and the usual steadying contributions of Paul Scholes, but this has still been a strange-looking Sir Alex Ferguson side.
Early in the year it was Theo Walcott giving Arsenal the big games, but after injury slowed him down Samir Nasri has single-handedly won two big games for the Gunners and is in the midst of his best season to date. World Cup-worn-down Cesc Fabregas has flattered without delivering and Andrei Arshavin has been downright awful at times this campaign.
Arsenal has also been depleted by a steady stream of defensive injuries: latest to go down was left-back Kieran Gibbs, who injured his ankle in Wednesday’s Champions League match against Partizan. He joins Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles’), and Abou Diaby (ankle) as key men likely to be absent for Monday’s clash. The only other legit central defender Arsenal have on their books, Johan Djourou, may be able to make a return from his thigh injury while wingback Gael Clichy is expected to be fit after a bout of flu. Also questionable for the match is Fabregas (hamstring), who will certainly play if able, given the paucity of other options.
United have their own injury woes, but not in numbers. Scholes (groin) and Rio Ferdinand (hamstring) may not pass fitness for Monday’s match, and Valencia, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen remain long term doubts.
What United do have are solid core players in Berbatov, defender Nemanja Vidic, winger Nani and midfielder Park Ji-Sung. Rooney seems to be finally showing flashes of his old form, and United have slowly grown in confidence as the season as gone on.
The best thing that Arsenal have going for them is that they are a far better team this season on the road. But it’s hard to see how a team that has now had to play two straight emotionally-draining matches, and is missing so many key players, can handle United’s withering flank play.
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