2021/22 English Premier League
Matchday 34
Arsenal v Manchester United
Emirates Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 23 April 2022
Kick-off is at 13h30 CAT
Manchester United will be looking to complete a Premier League double over Arsenal this season when they clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, April 23.
The Red Devils ran out 3-2 victors in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford on December 2, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a brace and scoring the winner from the penalty spot.
It was their first triumph over the Gunners in the top flight since April 2018 when United won 2-1 at the Theatre of Dreams to record the league double over their rivals for the 2017/18 campaign.
They are amongst five clubs battling it out for fourth spot, with Tottenham currently occupying the final position for Champions League football.
Mikel Arteta’s side looked primed to finish in the top four heading into the final two months of the season, but three straight defeats against Crystal Palace (3-0), Brighton (2-1) and Southampton (1-0) sees them trail Spurs by four points in sixth place.
Arteta admitted his players are finding it hard to accept their latest slip-up, having dominated proceedings at St Mary’s with nothing to show for their efforts.
“They are really down today, and they are down because they cannot find the right answer apart from what we can do better around the box, and not to win the match,” the Spaniard said.
“That’s the frustration – when somebody is better than you, you shake their hands and you have to do something, you have to believe yourself you have to be critical of yourself.
“But when it’s happening the way it happened – apart from 25 minutes against Palace, and some period against Brighton in the first half – it’s very difficult to explain, and accept.”
Ralf Rangnick’s team leapfrogged the north Londoners into fifth spot after beating Norwich 3-2 over the Easter weekend, courtesy of another Ronaldo hat-trick – the 60th of his career.
United defender Victor Lindelof hailed the three points against the Canaries as crucial to their top-four aspirations after Arsenal and Tottenham both lost their games.
“Especially at this stage of the season, the three points is very, very important. Obviously the results [elsewhere] today were in our favour, so just got to stick to it,” Lindelof told MUTV.
“[We need to] try to win as many games as possible and hopefully we can finish in the top four.”
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches – 5
Arsenal – 2
Man United – 1
Draws – 2