Former Manchester United and Arsenal player Mikael Silvestre has named his combined XI for the two teams ahead of their Premier League game on Sunday.
The defender made 275 appearances in the league combined for both teams.
Each have had a mixed start to the season, picking up two wins out of three. However, more seems to be expected of Mikel Arteta’s team this season due to their run in the last campaign, almost winning the title.
He said to Betting Expert: “It’s a fair fight between both teams as they’ve started the season fairly equally because of the start they’ve had, and both are lacking certainty. They haven’t shown enough for me to say one is on top of the other.
“It’s a big game early on in the season, and it’s important to keep the momentum going whilst both sides are working out their game. A win is a statement and also an opportunity to play against one of the higher competitive teams.
The Red Devils have suffered an injury blow in midfield with Mason Mount now out for a few weeks, so it is expected they will use the same midfield as the majority of last season.
“The midfield battle will be key. (Declan) Rice, (Martin) Ødegaard and (Thomas) Partey against Casemiro, (Bruno) Fernandes and (Christian) Eriksen, if he starts, could be extremely important and decisive.
“We know Arsenal like to be on the ball a lot and take control of games, but United have good players, and they will need to counter Arsenal in midfield to make sure they don’t take control knowing they’re away from home.
“Don’t drop too deep and stay compact. Their compactness against Wolves wasn’t good. There was too much space, and against Arsenal, you have to work as a unit.”
The Frenchman’s combined XI:
GK: Andre Onana
RB: Ben White, CB: William Saliba and Raphael Varane, LB: Zinchenko
CDM: Declan Rice and Casemiro, CAM: Martin Ødegaard
RW: Bukayo Saka, CF: Marcus Rashford, LW: Bruno Fernandes
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