Arsenal vs Manchester United predictions: Amorim may produce another away masterclass
- This is the 16th FA Cup meeting between Arsenal and Manchester United
- United have eliminated Arsenal from the FA Cup eight times
- Recommended bet: Manchester United to go through
The two most successful clubs in FA Cup history meet at the Emirates on Sunday as record winners Arsenal host holders Manchester United.
The Red Devils shocked neighbours Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley last May, but so much has changed at Old Trafford since, with Erik ten Hag sacked and Ruben Amorim appointed his replacement.
Amorim is already under pressure after a poor start, although he guided his team to a 2-2 draw at Liverpool last Sunday.
That was the first time since his November arrival which he had enjoyed a sustained spell on the training ground to work with his players and, after another uninterrupted period, they might be even better at the Emirates.
Arsenal were outmanoeuvred in Tuesday's 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg defeat against Newcastle, with the Magpies finding answers to all the questions their hosts posed.
Mikel Arteta's side looked blunt in attack, being shackled by Eddie Howe's 5-5-0 formation in the closing 20 minutes and Amorim may have something similar up his sleeve.
Team news
Arsenal made five changes from Saturday's 1-1 with Brighton for their defeat to Newcastle and Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus could come back into the team.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White and Bukayo Saka are all sidelined with injuries.
Amorim might stick with the side that started in the draw at Anfield, with Marcus Rashford again unlikely to be included in the matchday squad due to the ongoing speculation about his future.
The stats
Sunday's match will be the 16th FA Cup meeting between these two teams. Those include the 1979 and 2005 finals, both won by the Gunners.
United won last season's FA Cup, their 13th triumph, one fewer than Arsenal's record of 14.
Arteta coached his club to success in this competition in 2020, but they have been eliminated at the third round stage in two of the last three seasons.
United have eliminated Arsenal from the FA Cup eight times, more than any other club.
Prediction
Arsenal lacked penetration against Brighton and Newcastle and Amorim will have taken notes on Howe's approach.
The Gunners still had chances, winning 11 corners and recording an XG of 3.1 – the highest record of a team that did not score in a match since July 2020.
However, it all felt a bit too familiar and added to the calls for Arteta to sign a striker and for the Spaniard to be more adventurous in his tactical approach.
Aggressive attacking play is how Amorim made his reputation at Sporting CP and his team could again sit deep before breaking with pace, as was the case at Liverpool.
The improvement made between United's 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on January 30 and their 2-2 at Anfield six days later was astounding and, with more uninterrupted time to implement his methods, the Portuguese could set his team up to produce an even more perfect away performance.
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