Emery: The world will be watching on Monday night

Unai Emery says the world will be tuning in on Monday evening when Arsenal resume their rivalry with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The two clubs may have fallen down English football’s pecking order since their heyday in the nineties and noughties, but the Spaniard maintains that when they go head-to-head it’s still a game that turns heads.

“It’s an amazing moment, an amazing match between these two teams in the past, the present and the future,” said Emery ahead of the clash.


“Each match when I watched in Spain, Arsenal v Manchester United, Manchester United v Arsenal, was a special moment.

“I think Monday at eight o’clock, all around the world, if someone wants to watch a football match, it’s this one.

“We really want to play matches where we can do something important. We are preparing well. The players are wishing to play the next match – we know it’s a very big opportunity for us to get three points.”

The Gunners head north needing a win to get back into the top four while United, who have serious injury problems up front, are looking to revive their fortunes after a miserable defeat to West Ham last time out.

While they survived a midweek scare against Rochdale in the Carabao Cup – they won on penalties after matters ended 1-1 after 90 minutes – the pressure has been cranked up on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Asked about the man in the other dugout, Emery said: “Solskjaer has experience, he was a player at Manchester United, he knows the club perfectly.

“He knows the high competition, the high level and he has now very good players. His challenge is also to achieve the consistency and performances that will get them in the top four.

“We are going to fight on Monday the first time of this season and it’s how we can respond, us and them.”

We certainly have our work cut out. Arsenal have an abysmal record at Old Trafford with the Red Devils unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League home matches against us since Emmanuel Adebayor scored in a 1-0 defeat in September 2006.

Source [Arseblog.news]