Jesse Lingard England Man United EPL
Jesse Lingard Man United EPL

Arsenal hit the road this Thursday to take on Man United in the Premier League and as per Paul Merson, both teams are about to play out a cagey 90 minutes.

The Gunners have picked up form as the season has rolled along while Man United have headed towards the opposite tangent. Manchester United fought tooth and nail to pick up a draw against Chelsea while Arsenal recovered from their embarrassing defeat to Liverpool and picked up a win vs Newcastle United.

And according to Paul Merson, both these sides will be careful not to step on the banana peel and this is likely to result in a stalemate at Old Trafford.

He wrote for Sportskeeda: “Arsenal are back to beating the teams they should beat and got a good result against Newcastle.

“They struggled against Brighton and Liverpool in the Premier League and haven’t been very good away from home. Manchester United rode their luck a couple of times against Chelsea, but got an excellent result in the end.

“Carrick made a big statement by leaving Ronaldo out, and I think it worked.

“They took Rashford and Sancho off for Ronaldo after they went 1-0 up, and Chelsea dominated the rest of the game.

“United haven’t become a good team overnight. Carrick will take a chance against Arsenal – I’d be shocked if Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo don’t start.

“They aren’t very good defensively, however, and can’t afford to be too open against Arsenal. I reckon both teams would be pretty happy with a draw this week.”

Man United vs Arsenal: No fireworks to fly?

Man United have appointed Ralf Rangnick as their interim manager but he will not arrive in time to take charge which means Michael Carrick is going to remain in the dugout on Thursday.

And this is the prime reason why Manchester United are not going to try anything bold.

Avoiding a defeat will be a big thing for Carrick and despite Rangnick working closely with the current coach to select the team, we don’t think Man United will be too adventurous.

The Gunners, on the other hand, have swiftly gotten their act together after that huge boss to Liverpool but they know very well that Manchester United can hurt them.

Man United have the firepower to carve open Arsenal’s defence which is why Mikel Arteta will be really cautious when naming his side and forming his tactics for Thursday’s game.

And both these factors put together could turn the Man United vs Arsenal game into a really tedious and lacklustre affair.

Read: 4-2-3-1 Arsenal’s predicted line up vs Man United.

Read: Man United’s predicted line up vs Arsenal.

Read: Here are four ways in which Man United could line up under Ralf Rangnick

Read: 5 world-class players who could leave the Premier League during the January transfer window.