Højlund, Reguilon, Amrabat: Latest Manchester United team news vs Arsenal

With the transfer window slammed shut and the endless rumours put to bed, Manchester United’s focus shifts to their trip to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon to take on Arsenal.

Erik ten Hag‘s men have had a mixed start to the Premier League season, picking up two victories at home but their poor away record from last season has already seeped into this.

A 2-0 loss to Spurs a couple of weeks ago will still be fresh in the minds and Ten Hag and co. will be hoping Sunday’s trip to North London will bear more fruits. This fixture against last season’s runners-up may have come at the wrong time but it’s also an opportunity to lay down an early marker and shake off the early season cobwebs that have been more than evident so far.

Read More: Alejandro Garnacho’s new Manchester United shirt number confirmed as Rasmus Hojlund set to wear different number

Mikel Arteta’s side haven’t had the most convincing start to the season either after letting 3 points slip late on against 10-men Fulham last Saturday. Narrow wins against Forest and Crystal Palace see them sit fifth with seven points in the early standings. Here is the team news ahead of this Sunday’s 4:30 pm kick-off

Manchester United team news

The biggest news for Manchester United is that Rasmus Højlund has been declared ‘ready to start’ by the United boss. The Danish striker has had to be patient since signing for the club after a pre-existing back issue kept him on the shelf but he’s likely to finally make his debut at the Emirates.

Another new signing who could make his debut is Sergio Reguilón. The Spaniard joined on loan from Tottenham earlier this week and has trained with the team. The general feeling is that Dalot will start ahead of him due to a lack of game time in recent months but he is officially registered and available.

Sofyan Amrabat is in a similar boat to Reguilón in terms of game time but he won’t be available for Sunday after missing the midday registration cut-off on Friday. The Moroccan international will no doubt view the upcoming international break as a good opportunity to train at Carrington and prepare for his first game in United red.

Altay Bayindir – another deadline day signing – is available for selection. As is Jonny Evans who re-signed with the club on a short-term deal.

Raphaël Varane and Luke Shaw are both out after picking up injuries in the opening games of the season. Whilst Varane could be back in as little as four weeks, the prognosis for Shaw is slightly longer. Mason Mount, Tyrrell Malacia and Amad Diallo remain sidelined with injury.

Arsenal team news

Takehiro Tomiyasu returns to the fold for Arsenal after serving a one-game suspension whilst Oleksander Zinchecko and Gabriel Jesus are in contention to start after recovering from injury.

It appears that The Gunners will be without Thomas Partey, who has been playing in an unorthodox right-back role so far this season, but was pipped to join Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice in the midfield this weekend.

The Ghanaian player has been left out of his country’s upcoming international fixtures, and according to a statement from the Ghana FA, he has picked up an injury in training leading up to the United clash.

“Arsenal ace Thomas Partey is left out of the squad due to injury. According to his club, the player picked up an injury in training and could be on the sidelines for a while, however, the Black Stars medical team is monitoring the situation,” it read.

In a further statement, they added: “He sustained a groin injury during training on Thursday, August 31, 2023. He is currently unavailable as Club Doctors predict he’s likely to be out for a couple of weeks.”

Another key absence for Arsenal will be Jurrien Timber who has been ruled out for the majority of the season after suffering an unfortunate ACL injury in the season opener.

Gabriel will be hoping to make his first start of the season after finding himself out of favour and Eddie Nketiah should expect to return to the team after scoring from the bench last time out.