Manchester United v Arsenal, Analysis & Tips May 12th 2024

One of the Premier League's fiercest rivalries is set to resume this Sunday when Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford. With Arsenal's title hopes still very much alive after an impressive 3-0 victory against Bournemouth, Mikel Arteta's side will be arriving at Old Trafford with the full confidence that they can come away from Old Trafford with all three points against a Manchester United side that look completely lost on the pitch right now.

Is the Ten Hag Era Coming to an End?

In Erik Ten Hag's first press conference as Manchester United manager, he was asked for his opinion on Manchester City and Liverpool's current dominance in the Premier League. His answer was that he saw this current dominance as a good era for his rivals but was fully confident that he could turn the tables on them saying 'All eras must come to an end". And in his first season, Manchester United fans could be forgiven for believing the manager as his team had a much stronger season than they had been used to in recent years. With United finishing the season in third while also picking up the Carabao Cup and reaching an FA Cup final there was a sense of optimism around the club. This season however has been a nightmare from start to finish and after an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace, the club looks destined to have their worst-ever Premier League season. Ten Hag's side have finished the season just as they started it; terribly and with the latest EPL Betting Odds now pricing them at +800 to finish within the top 6, they are currently projected to end the season in 8th place. Their one shining light all season is that they have somehow managed to reach another FA Cup final with even the most optimistic of fans aware that their chances of winning it are near zero. With recent rumors saying that Thomas Tuchel is being lined up for the United job and betting sites offering as low as +150 for him to be the next United manager, we could well be witnessing the end of the Ten Hag era at Manchester United.

Can Arteta the Apprentice Become the Master?

Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal from the laughing stock of the Premier League in recent years, to genuine title contenders. Having the youngest squad in the league, it seems like a lack of experience in challenging for titles let his side down last season as they seemed to succumb to the pressure of being the league leaders. They may prefer that this year, they are chasing Manchester City as opposed to having Manchester City chase them. Of course, this is no easy task either with City having plenty of experience in winning titles while the 2nd place team are hot on their heels but with odds of +225 for Arsenal to win the title, you would be stupid to write them off just yet. Mikel Arteta was of course the assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Man City before becoming Arsenal manager and I wouldn't rule out the apprentice to beat his master this time around. 

Saka to Hit the Target (+200)

Arsenal's star boy Bukayo Saka is in good form lately with three goals in his last 5 games. As well as this he loves big games and seems to enjoy playing against United scoring three times in his last four games against them. With United leaking shots left right and center lately and currently having no natural left back in the team with the absence of Luke Shaw, I can see Saka having a huge impact on Sunday's game and will be backing him to grab two shots on target at odds of +200.

Corner Betting (-175)

I can only see this game as being very one-sided towards Arsenal and for this reason, I will also be backing Arsenal to have over 6 corners at odds of -175. In their last 10 Premier League games Manchester United have conceded an average of 9.1 corners a game and last time the two teams met Arsenal racked up 12 corners. The only reason I am going for slightly lower corner numbers is because, in their last 5 games, Arsenal have only averaged 4.4 corners a game. However, I expect those numbers to increase on Sunday.

Diarmuid's Same Game Parlay

Bukayo Saka to have two shots on target and Arsenal to receive over 6 corners at odds of +365.