Manchester United – Arsenal: United’s Counterattacks Make The Difference (3-1)

United started out with some nice phases of possession but Arsenal quickly took the larger share of the ball and were able to cause damage to United’s midfield pressing. Despite this, United’s defense were able to hold strong and make the platform for their attackers to thrive on counterattacks, where Rashford was able to sink Arsenal with two second half goals. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley. 

After a tough start to Erik ten Hag’s reign as manager, Manchester United have been able to grind out some much-needed wins of late, most notably their victory over rivals Liverpool. This, along with the arrivals of Casemiro and Antony, created a cautious optimism around Old Trafford going into what promised to be a difficult game against early league leaders Arsenal.

Arguably, Ten Hag’s biggest decision in his team selection for this game was putting Antony straight into the starting lineup. He started on the right of the front four in their 4-2-3-1 shape, alongside Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. Scott McTominay continued in midfield alongside Christian Eriksen meaning Casemiro remained on the bench, while the back four consisted of Diogo Dalot, Raphaël Varane, Lisandro Martínez and Tyrell Malacia.

Mikel . . .