Man Utd v Arsenal

Old Trafford
Sunday, 17 September
Kick-off: 1600 BST

Cristiano Ronaldo is back after missing the Champions League match through suspension, but Ryan Giggs is out.

Park Ji-Sung's ankle injury means he is also a non-starter but Nemanja Vidic and Alan Smith are back in the frame.

It looks certain Arsenal will be without captain Thierry Henry, who has with a foot injury, and Robin van Persie, who is nursing a hip problem.

But defender Kolo Toure is expected to start and midfielder Freddie Ljungberg is pressing for a recall.Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Jones, O'Shea, Richardson, Smith, Rooney, Saha.

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Hoyte, Djourou, Gallas, Hleb, Baptista, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Van Persie, Flamini, Adebayor, Almunia, Ljungberg, Song, Walcott, Henry.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson:"Historically, our matches against Arsenal have always been feisty affairs.

"When you have clubs with such great histories, who have been competing against each other for titles for so long, I don't think you can avoid that.

"What you want is to make sure the games are being played fairly."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger speaking to Arsenal TV Online:"Don't forget as well that we have a game in hand.

"We do not go there to lose, we go there to win, and I am confident we have a good chance to do it.

"Let's focus on us and play at our best level and continue to do what we do and try to improve our defensive record."

BIG-MATCH FACTS

MANCHESTER UNITED and old adversaries Arsenal face up to each other at Old Trafford in their 199th competitive meeting and 175th in the League. The all-conquering Red Devils have made their best ever start to a Premiership season, while the Gunners have made their worst.

The eight times former Premiership champions are coming off a midweek odd goal in five victory over Celtic in the Champions League. They've not won five League games from the outset of the season since reeling off 10 successive victories in 1985, when Arsenal were beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford in the third match of that sequence.

United hold an eight match unbeaten Premiership string against the Gunners of four wins and four draws.

ARSENAL go to the Theatre of Dreams eager not to lose a 50th League match on enemy territory. The managers stand all square in their 31-match head-to-head standings at 11 wins a piece with nine draws. But of those drawn encounters, United won the 2003 Community Shield on penalties, and Arsenal the 2005 FA Cup final on penalties.

Like United, the Londoners were victorious in their midweek Champions League match (1-2 at Hamburg). They have never failed to win at least one of the first four matches in the Premiership era, and go back 24 years since last failing to win any of their opening quartet of League fixtures.

The Gunners have failed to score in five of the last six meetings with United in all competitions, including both last season's Premiership meetings. They last beat the Red Devils in the Premiership 0-1 at Old Trafford on 8 May 2002, when Sylvain Wiltord got the winner.

REFEREE

Graham Poll (Tring, Hertfordshire)

Premiership referees' table
Graham Poll's 2006-07 Premiership card count

SEQUENCES/RECENT FORM

MANCHESTER UNITED

Club stats
Fixtures Going into the weekend: 1st 12 points(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premiership fixtures)

1. Bidding for a sixth successive Premiership maximum.
2. Not dropped a point since the goalless home draw with Middlesbrough on 1 May.
3. Not lost a top flight clash, since Chelsea's 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge on 29 April.
4. The only remaining club with a 100% winning Premiership record, and one of four unbeaten clubs in the highest League.
5. Lost only one of the last 18 top flight duels, winning 15 of them.
6. Boasting the strongest attack in the top table, and the only club to have double figures in the "goals for" column (11 in four).
7. Their 11 goals have been scored by seven different players, and in addition one of the 11 was an own goal.
8. Set a new Premiership attendance record of 75,453 last Saturday, against Spurs.
9. Looking for a 195th win in United's 275th home Premier League outing.
10. Conceded just one goal in nine Premiership games on home turf (5-1 v Fulham on the opening day, 20 August), and completed 23 top flight matches since a score draw.

ARSENAL

Club stats
Fixtures Going into the weekend: 17th 2 points(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premiership fixtures)

1. Must win to avoid this still being Arsenal's worse start to a Premiership season.
2. The previous lowest points total after the first four games was four in 1994-95 - the season in which they finished 12th.
3. The Gunners began their 1982-83 top flight campaign with one draw and three losses in the first four games.
4. Arsenal's club record of League matches without a victory from the season start is eight in 1953-54 (two draws, six defeats).
5. Conceded one goal in each of the first three matches this term.
6. Completed 21 Premiership matches since a goalless draw (0-0 v Manchester United at Highbury on 3 January).
7. Searching for a first away League point this season.
8. Seven different scorers have netted nine goals in Champions League and Premiership matches to date this season.

KEY PLAYER NOTES/POTENTIAL MILESTONES

MANCHESTER UNITED

Squad profiles

If on the field from the outset, Wayne ROONEY will be making his 100th career Premiership start (Everton and Manchester United).

If he plays, Cristiano RONALDO will be making his 100th Premiership appearance for Manchester United.

If involved, Louis SAHA will be making his 50th Premiership appearance for the Red Devils.

ARSENAL

Squad profiles

Cesc FABREGAS and Gilberto SILVA are Arsenal's joint top scorers with two scorers each.

Only FABREGAS and Johan DJOUROU have been on the field for every minute of every one of Arsenal's six League and Cup games to date.

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME

Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
9 April 2006 - Ref: Graham Poll
Man United scorers: Rooney 54, Park Ji-Sung 78

HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS

Home and awayLeague: Man Utd 71 wins, Arsenal 63, Draws 40

Prem: Man Utd 12 wins, Arsenal 7, Draws 9

at Man United onlyLeague: Man Utd 49 wins, Arsenal 14, Draws 24

Prem: Man Utd 8 wins, Arsenal 2, Draws 4

From : BBC Sports