Head-To-Head: Arsenal vs Manchester United

Arsenal host Manchester United in a real six-pointer this weekend. Arsenal are coming off the back of a brilliant 4-2 win over Chelsea, while United are recovering from their 4-0 loss to Liverpool.

Matchday 34 of the Premier League this weekend is providing us with some very entertaining matchups.

Chelsea vs West Ham will be an interesting London derby. The Merseyside derby is also on show this weekend. 

But our feature game of the weekend is Arsenal vs Manchester United. A real six-pointer of a game, with both sides wanting the three points in the fight for fourth place. 

Arsenal picked up a huge 4-2 victory over Chelsea in the midweek, which might now have the Blues' third place just about in play.

For United, it wasn't a good midweek for them, as they were embarrassed by Liverpool, losing 4-0 in a game which they never truly got anything going in.

But now, it is two fairly evenly matched sides going head-to-head, with a winner receiving a big boost in the fight for fourth. But who could it be?

 

Goals 

Arsenal: 49 

Manchester United: 52 

 

A slight advantage for Manchester United here. Both sides have been good scorers this year; United have one Cristiano Ronaldo who can conjure up some magic out of nowhere while Arsenal seem to have a very balanced attack where anyone can score.

The two men most in form for the two sides are Ronaldo for United and Eddie Nketiah for Arsenal.

After missing the Liverpool match, Ronaldo goes into this game boasting a hat-trick in his last game played.

And for Nketiah, he found the back of the net twice in Arsenal's surprise win over Chelsea.

 

xG per 90 minutes 

Arsenal: 1.57 

Manchester United: 1.49 

 

Arsenal have the win on expected goals, but in actuality, Manchester United has them beat going by their actual goals per 90 minutes. Which means that Arsenal is underachieving by their xG (1.50), while United are overachieving (1.55).

And unfortunately, it's not just xG per 90 minutes. Arsenal, on 49 goals, has an xG on the season of 50.2, so they are slightly underachieving by -0.8.

While United are again overachieving, having scored 52 times on a 49.1 xG rate, for a difference of +2.9.

 

Shots total per 90 minutes 

Arsenal: 15.34 

Manchester United: 13.73 

 

Arsenal rank third in the league for shots total per 90 minutes, which is slightly skewed since they have played one less game. They also rank sixth for most shots overall this year.

Manchester United come in at fifth for shots per 90 minutes, and fourth for total shots this season.

More importantly, though, United has the Gunners beat on goals per shot, 0.11 for them to Arsenal's 0.09.

 

Shots on target per 90 minutes 

Arsenal: 4.66 

Manchester United: 4.79 

 

While Arsenal has taken more shots overall and takes a good few more per game than United, the Red Devils are much better at hitting the target. 

In fact, shots on target per 90 minutes doesn't even do it justice how much better United have been then Arsenal this year for the hitting the target.

United has a fourth-best-in-the-league 34.9% shots on target accuracy rate. Arsenal's 30.3% is not only 4.6% lower than United's, but is also puts them down in 14th in the league.

 

Goals conceded per 90 minutes 

Arsenal: 1.22 

Manchester United: 1.45 

 

Arsenal isn't seen as having one of the best defences in the league, but maybe compared to United they should be.

The Gunners have conceded nine goals less than United, and that is a difference that has Arsenal in sixth in the league for least amount of goals conceded, while United are down in 12th.

And if the top four battle was decided by goal difference, United would find themselves bang out of luck, sitting in eighth place (+4 GD) with possibly no European football next season, while Arsenal would get fifth (+10 GD), meaning Europa League for them.

 

Penalties 

Arsenal: 3/6 

Manchester United: 2/3 

 

Manchester United have the luxury of one to three solid penalty takers on their pitch at any time, with Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba all being very adept scorers from the spot.

Arsenal do not have such a luxury. They will switch between Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka, depending on who is on the pitch. Both are good enough, but that's not really enough for a club like Arsenal.

The Gunners match Watford for a penalty conversion rate of 50%, although Watford have only had two this year, not six.

 

Corners 

Arsenal: 5.31 

Manchester United: 5.24 

 

The two sides are very evenly matched for corners, with Arsenal having a total of 170 corners this season and United on 173. Again, Arsenal has the higher rate because of one less game played.

On the season, Arsenal have scored 11 goals from set pieces, while United have only scored six.

And if you cast your minds back, it took teh Red Devils intil mid Ferbruary for them to get their first goal from a corner.

 

Cards 

Arsenal: 52 Y, 3 R 

Manchester United: 66 Y, 2 R 

 

It may come as a surprise, maybe not, but United are one fo the most ill-disciplined teams in the league when it comes to yellow cards. They rank in 15th for yellow cards this season, with an average of two per game.

Arsenal are a little bit better, but they are certainly not on Manchester City or Liverpool's level. The Gunners average 1.63 yellows per game.

What's not so great for Arsenal is that they solely hold second place for most red cards in the league with three. So, in terms of discipline, you could see it as fairly even.