While the focus of many English fans Sunday will be on the League Cup final Sunday, there’s a huge match in the Premier League as well -- Manchester United hosting Arsenal at Old Trafford. With Manchester’s struggles for consistency and Arsenal desperate to close the gap on first place, this should be a knock-down, drag-out battle between two very talented teams.
Manchester United vs. Arsenal 2016: Time, TV schedule and team news
Both teams have a lot on the line in this match.
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Arsenal can’t afford to fall any further out of the title race right now, needing to stay within striking distance of Leicester City at all costs. While their own form has been a little rocky, they need to keep as close as they can while they wait and hope for Leicester to stumble themselves. Manchester, though, just need to find a way to stabilize and start pulling close to the top four again, instead of continuing their slide downwards. This might not be a title clash between two teams like history has us used to seeing, but that doesn’t make this match any less important.
Key player -- Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
Welbeck may only be recently back from injury, but he brings a new dimension to Arsenal’s attack that they’ve lacked for much of this season, so whatever role he plays in this match will be a vital one. He’ll be especially motivated for this match as well, coming up against his old team and the one that essentially abandoned and gave up on him when they decided they were willing to sell Welbeck to a direct rival. Considering Manchester’s woes up front this season, they’re almost certainly regretting that decision now.
Key matchup -- Memphis Depay (Manchester United) vs. Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
With so much of Manchester’s attack out injured or, in the case of Anthony Martial, playing at less than full health, they’ll need Depay to continue his recent trend of improvement in order to stand as good a chance at breaking down Arsenal’s defense as possible. His ability to cut in from the left and get scoring chances is impressive when he’s on form, but Bellerin has shown a surprising ability to cut off wide attackers as they try to surge inside. If he can do so against Depay, it will seriously hamstring Manchester’s attack.
Manchester United injuries and suspensions
Out: Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marouane Fellaini, Matteo Darmian, Will Keane, Phil Jones, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Luke Shaw In doubt: David De Gea, Anthony Martial, Chris Smalling, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Adnan Januzaj
Arsenal injuries and suspensions
Out: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere In doubt: Gabriel Paulista
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), Telemundo (U.S. - Spanish), Sportsnet regional networks (Canada), Sky Sports 1/HD (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.), Sportsnet World Now (Canada), Sky Go Extra (U.K.)
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