The glass-half-empty Arsenal fan will worry that all the good work put in against Spurs last Saturday has been completely ruined by the shoddy defending in last night’s defeat.
While Sokratis Papastathopoulos stood strong at Wembley, he let himself down by getting sent off in Brittany. Likewise, the confidence Henrikh Mkhitaryan built in recent games has been possibly damaged by a difficult night at right-back. In addition, an unhappy-looking Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended up on the bench after a sub-standard display. When he looks glum, you know it hasn’t gone well.
All in all, it turned into a filthy night for Unai Emery’s side when it should have been about developing a structure and consistency to Arsenal’s play ahead of this match against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s heroes.
After defeating Paris St Germain in the French capital, the likes of Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling will pitch up at the Emirates feeling 10ft tall. Having contributed so impressively to one of the great European nights, United will surely present a very stiff challenge, just like they did in January’s FA Cup tie.
Events, of course, can turn out very differently this time. For a man who spends untold hours on cutting video analysis himself, you would hope Emery has a plan for this vital match, one that could go some way to deciding who finishes in the top four.
For United, there might be an element of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’. For Arsenal, this is about bouncing back to lay down a marker.
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