We get the sense that Ruben Amorim will be looking forward to Manchester United\u2019s opening-day clash with Arsenal far more than Mikel Arteta, for whom anything other than a win at Old Trafford will result in some gloriously early sack chat.<\/p>\n
Here are five reasons why a trip to Old Trafford is a nightmare first fixture for Arteta\u2026<\/p>\n
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Polar expectations<\/strong> But this is the worst Manchester United team in living memory, or at least it was last season, when the 1-1 draw in the same fixture saw Arsenal described as \u2018utter toss\u2019, with Arteta condemned for his \u2018Tony Pulis tribute act\u2019<\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s no longer acceptable for Arsenal to do anything but beat Manchester United.<\/p>\n Only one of us reckons Arsenal will win the Premier League, which is as much to do with our burgeoning lack of faith in Arteta to get the job done as much as anything, but they were in all of our top fours, while the only shred of positivity for United to be found in our pre-season predictions<\/a><\/strong> came from our resident Red Devils fan Ian Watson, who believes \u2018they will be a lot less sh*te if they\u00a0get a midfielder with legs and a competent goalkeeper\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Big Weekend: Man Utd v Arsenal, Chelsea, Florian Wirtz and Eddie Howe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Viktor Gyokeres vs Ruben Amorim<\/strong> At this stage we would be picking one over the other through a flip of a coin, which doesn\u2019t appear to be far off Arsenal\u2019s strategy. But we do predict Gyokeres<\/a><\/strong> will have the tougher time on Sunday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s again partly down to expectation \u2013 Gyokeres is \u2018the final piece of the puzzle\u2019 for Arsenal, who needs to drive them to the title, whereas Benjamin Sesko has a laughably low bar to clear in order to be a dramatic improvement up front for United.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s also no manager who knows what Gyokeres is capable of \u2013 and therefore in an excellent position to stop him \u2013 \u00a0better than Ruben Amorim, without whom the Sweden international would not have got his dream move to Arsenal. Whether the United defenders are able to carry out Amorim\u2019s orders is another matter.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manchester United might actually be quite good<\/strong> There have been good signs from Patrick Dorgu and Diego Leon on the left in pre-season, while Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot provide very different but decent options on the right. The midfield is the obvious concern as Manuel Ugarte hasn\u2019t got near to proving himself capable of granting United enough stability alongside Bruno Fernandes, hence the interest in Carlos Baleba as a \u2018perfect\u2019 fit for that role, at odds with the imperfect Kobbie Mainoo and the formerly perfect Casemiro. And sure, we\u2019re also far from convinced by Andre Onana.<\/p>\n That front three could be a real handful though. It\u2019s about as good a trio as Amorim could have hoped for now that United aren\u2019t able to fish in that top pool of talent. The dynamism and hunger to succeed feels like the big thing among all three of Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, with the deep-seated love of Manchester United<\/a><\/strong> (or at least greater love for them than Newcastle) key to Amorim\u2019s desire to sign them.<\/p>\n And while an entirely new forward line could be a problem for United, with the relationship between them not yet embedded, it also makes it very difficult for Arteta to prepare his team as he has no idea what to expect from them.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ruben Amorim might actually be quite good<\/strong>
Even a couple of seasons ago, Mikel Arteta would have been praised to the hilt for beating Manchester United on their own patch on the opening day of a season; even a draw would have been commendable.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re bracing ourselves ahead of a fixture featuring a new \u00a370m striker per club, both of whom were heavily linked with the other before making their moves to grant us the delicious prospect of immediate knee-jerking into labelling one a genius and the other a flop amid gloating and gnashing of teeth depending on your red allegiance, for Arsenal and Manchester United to start with Kai Havertz and Rasmus Hojlund up front. We beg you \u2013 give the people what they want.<\/p>\n
The defence looks pretty good though. They\u2019ve conceded just five goals in five pre-season games and that area of the pitch was rarely picked out as a problem under Amorim last season. Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven looks to be a nice mix of experience and youth to rotate in the three centre-back positions.<\/p>\n
It became easy to forget as Amorim lost game after to game to drum up the worst record of any Manchester United manager in the Premier League era last season that he didn\u2019t want to be Manchester United manager last season.<\/p>\n