Arsenal against Manchester United is one of the greatest spectacles in English football, making Sunday’s clash a blockbuster.
The two teams will have different objectives on Sunday, as Arsenal will want to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League table, while Man United will eye a second win under Michael Carrick.
Carrick beat Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in 2021 and will hope to do the same again, having enjoyed facing the Gunners as both a coach and a player.
In his playing career, Carrick beat Arsenal more times than he lost to them, which is the same for fellow Man United icon Paul Scholes, who was just speaking about the North Londoners ahead of Sunday.
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Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt are in agreement about Arsenal’s class
Scholes has shared some strong opinions about Arsenal on the podcast he shares with his former teammate Nicky Butt, The Good, The Bad & The Football.
In the most recent episode, the two United legends shared what they really think of Arsenal.
What could’ve been set up to provide some interesting answers, given the history behind the Arsenal and Man United rivalry, instead revealed what Butt and Scholes admire about the Gunners as a club.
“Do you know what, Arsenal to us, it’s always been a classy club, hasn’t it?” Scholes said, to which Butt instantly agreed.
Scholes continued to say, “If you think of the old stadium with the marble hallway,” reminiscing on trips to Highbury.
In response, Butt had no disputes, “It’s got class, hasn’t it? It’s class, whether you like them or not, it’s a proper classy football club.”
Arsenal fans will appreciate the words from the Man United duo while acknowledging that their thoughts on the Gunners certainly venture further from that.
Facing Man United would make Arsene Wenger sick
Reminiscing on past times just proves how strangely beautiful the rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United really is.
Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson battled for years to get their clubs to the summit, clashes that the former Arsenal manager became sick over.
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A spectacle like no other 💥🔥
When featuring on the Graham Norton Show on BBC One [16/10/2020], Wenger opened up about his rivalry with Ferguson.
“He was my biggest rival for 10 years. Competition is real, it’s you or me,” he said.
“Pain hurts, and the biggest pain is to lose a football game. I was physically sick when I lost.”
Wenger felt his fair share of pain because of Ferguson’s Man United, but subsequently, he experienced joy, nothing as great as winning the Premier League title at Old Trafford in 2002.
On Sunday, it’s Carrick and Arteta who will go head-to-head in the next chapter of the rivalry, setting the Premier League up for a spectacle on week 23.
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