Arsenal vs Manchester United: 3 key battles in titanic clash

FBRef, Wan-Bissaka came out on top in 23 of 25 opposition attempts to dribble past him last season, while his rates of blocking (88th percentile) and interceptions (93rd percentile) per 90 rank among the very best across the top five European leagues.</p> <p>Our man will have to work hard for every chance he gets, so a big performance is needed here.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/01/3-key-battles-decide-arsenal-man-utd/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 key battle vs Man Utd </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_136175" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-136175" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/01/3-key-battles-decide-arsenal-man-utd/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1242947161-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242947161-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242947161-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242947161-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1242947161-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Rashford scored twice in United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal last season. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)</p> </div> <h2><strong>3. William Saliba vs Marcus Rashford</strong></h2> <p>Revenge is in order following our high-line woes at Old Trafford last September.</p> <p>William Saliba was part of the Arsenal rearguard that day and fell victim to Rashford’s electrifying pace in transition, with a dysfunctional offside trap gifting the England man his second career brace against us.</p> <p>But those shortcomings owed primarily to risky tactical instruction and, after his excellent recoveries against Crystal Palace (Jordan Ayew) and Fulham (Adama Traoré), it seems that a good starting position is all ‘Wilo’ needs to shut down any counter-attacking bursts.</p> <p>Bearing this in mind, as well as Saliba’s marked physical advantage, United may decide to field Rashford out wide and allow him to drift centrally when they gain possession – with the avoidance of any physical duel swinging the odds back in United’s favour.</p> <p>These out-to-in runs present a huge challenge for any defence and recently saw Rashford get back to his usual, dangerous self against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, ending the afternoon with two assists to his name.</p> <div class="embed "> <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Uo5rSHRb9V"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/01/3-key-battles-decide-arsenal-man-utd/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/31/why-gabriel-hasnt-played-start-arsenal-season/">Nothing to see here – Gabriel is still part of the Arsenal project</a></p></blockquote> <p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="“Nothing to see here – Gabriel is still part of the Arsenal project” — Pain in the Arsenal" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/01/3-key-battles-decide-arsenal-man-utd/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/31/why-gabriel-hasnt-played-start-arsenal-season/embed/#?secret=IMNljTC00R#?secret=Uo5rSHRb9V" data-secret="Uo5rSHRb9V" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p></div> <p>He loves to find the Arsenal net, but we could not have a better man to stop him.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">