FA Cup 4th Round Preview – Arsenal vs Manchester United, Friday 25th January 2019

A classic FA Cup rivalry is reignited when Arsenal host Man United in the 4th round on Friday night.

With a little help from a fairly kind fixtures list, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has worked wonders at United since taking over from the cloud of negativity bearing the name of Jose Mourinho. The Norwegian is yet to lose a game at the helm of his former club, and has overseen some hefty wins, including a 5-1 debut drubbing of Cardiff, as well as a less flash, but more important, victory away to Tottenham.

The club’s FA Cup 3rd round appearance was very much business as usual for Solskjaer’s reign. A 22nd minute penalty from Juan Mata, and a strike from Romelu Lukaku just before the break, gave United a clean 2-0 win over Reading, setting up that tasty 4th round trip to the Emirates.

While United have been on the up and up, Arsenal have had an incredibly rocky winter, one that now sees the 2 clubs level on points in the Premier League. Since mid-December the Gunners have lost 4 times in 9 games, with miserable league trips to St Mary’s, Anfield and the London Stadium joined by an EFL Cup exit at the hands of Tottenham.

Yet last Saturday Unai Emery’s side got a huge confidence boost, beating Chelsea 2-0 to keep their hopes of making the top 4 alive. That victory came at a cost, however, with Hector Bellerin picking up a season-ending injury in the 73rd minute.

Though he may have cooled slightly in the last few weeks, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reminds a formidable threat, his 16 goals in all competitions leaving him with a Super Mega PGM of 39-46, with Alexandre Lacazette not too far behind at 36-42. As for United, their top scorer is actually Paul Pogba, though his Super Mega PGM of 21-26 puts him level with Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial, and behind Marcus Rashford, at 28-34, and Lukaku, at 32-38.

Lacking the mind games of FA Cup encounters of years past, it’s a new era for this legendary match-up. The Gunners are just about fancied to take this one, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Man United Goal Supremacy spread of 0-0.2, alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.1-3.3 and a Bookings spread of 44-48.