English FA CUP

2025-01-12 - Arsenal vs Manchester United

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Arsenal v Manchester United
Football: English FA Cup Third Round
Sunday 12th January 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
This game is live on TV

Arsenal

One or two fans might have begun voicing their negative opinions about Mikel Arteta and the direction Arsenal are heading under their current manager after recent setbacks, but the majority of supporters must still believe in the Spaniard. The home defeat to Newcastle United in the League Cup Semi Final First Leg was disappointing, but Arsenal still have a Second Leg to play to recover and will be looking to bounce back on Sunday in the FA Cup Third Round.

The Premier League and Champions League are the priorities for Arsenal, but any silverware will be welcomed by Mikel Arteta and his staff. Despite the improvements under his watch, Arteta has not overseen a trophy win since 2020 and that is not good enough for a club like Arsenal, which in turn builds pressure on the manager. That last Cup success was in the 2020 FA Cup, but The Gunners have not made it out of the Fourth Round in the four seasons since then.

Arsenal had been unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions before the defeat on Tuesday against Newcastle United, but they have not been able to string the wins together as hoped. It was also the first loss at the Emirates Stadium since April 2024, but Arsenal have failed to score in 2 of their last 4 fixtures at home.

Bukayo Saka remains the standout absentee for Arsenal and he will be a big miss. The North London derby is to be played here on Wednesday so Mikel Arteta may choose to make some changes to his starting eleven with the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Mikel Merino, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus pushing for starts.

Manchester United

The Marcus Rashford situation at Manchester United could be resolved shortly and the fans are going to be firmly behind the decisions that Ruben Amorim makes after the strong performance in the 2-2 draw at Anfield last weekend. However, much as the manager and Captain Bruno Fernandes stated after the draw with Liverpool, the fans are also looking to see if this current group of players can find that kind of consistent level in matches to come.

Winning silverware is always important to a club like Manchester United and so the FA Cup, which they are defending, and the Europa League are key competitions. Improving the Premier League results to avoid any unnecessary talk about relegation is also important, but Manchester United focus on the FA Cup this weekend and will be looking to find a way to progress in the competition.

Manchester United have not won any of their last 5 games in all competitions since beating Manchester City, but the draw at Liverpool snapped a 4 game losing run. The side had lost back to back away games at Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves prior to that game at Anfield, although Manchester United have scored at least twice in 4 of their last 5 away games in all competitions.

Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Victor Lindelof are expected to miss out. Ruben Amorim will try and limit the changes to his starting eleven after the performance last weekend and it would not be a major surprise if the same team is selected again.

Head to Head

Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 here in early December.

That improves their unbeaten run to 7 at home against Manchester United and Arsenal have won 6 of those games.

However, that unbeaten run began after a 1-3 defeat to United in the FA Cup Fourth Round in 2019.

Prediction

The two most successful clubs in FA Cup history will meet in the Third Round in 2025 and this feels like an important tie for both Arsenal and Manchester United.

Unsurprisingly a fixture where the fourteen time winners face the thirteen time winners, and defending holders, has been picked for television selection in the UK.

Arsenal are looking to bounce back from the very disappointing 0-2 home loss to Newcastle United in the League Cup Semi Final, but Mikel Arteta also has to focus on the upcoming Premier League fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.

The North London derby is played on Wednesday and ultimately that may be the more important fixture for Mikel Arteta and The Gunners.

Winning the title is the ultimate aim for Arsenal and so there is every chance that they could make a few changes to keep key players fit and ready to play with the games coming up thick and fast through the remainder of the month and into early February.

This may just shift the pendulum in favour of Manchester United, despite the poor recent record at the Emirates Stadium.

They lost here in early December, although it was a competitive fixture that came down to Arsenal's superiority from set pieces. This time they are without Bukayo Saka and Manchester United have also had a full week on the training ground with Ruben Amorim.

Last weekend they showed what can be achieved with a bit more time working on tactics and shape and Manchester United were a little unlucky to 'only' draw at Premier League leaders Liverpool. Ruben Amorim did not want to offer too much praise for his team and instead has placed demands on the squad to reach that level more consistently, with Captain Bruno Fernandes suggesting the same.

The next game for Manchester United is at home on Thursday and so they are more likely to stick with the same eleven that began the draw at Anfield. Consistent team selection will help Manchester United cope with a new system and they have every capability of finding a positive result at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Defending set pieces with more authority is important for Manchester United, but it does feel they are playing at Arsenal at a good time and momentum can be built by the away team. There are no Replays in the FA Cup any more and Manchester United have all of the qualities to at least force Extra Time in this one, especially if Arsenal make the changes to the starting eleven as expected.