Erik ten Hag explains how Man Utd can beat Arsenal without Casemiro
By Sean Walsh
Erik ten Hag has explained that Manchester United's win against Arsenal earlier this season proves that they are capable of toppling the Gunners even without Casemiro.
The Brazilian midfielder, who has quickly become a fan favourite at Old Trafford, picked up his fifth Premier League booking of the season in the latter stages of Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace, ruling him out of Sunday's trip to the Emirates Stadium through suspension.
United brought Arsenal's winning start to the 2022/23 campaign to a stop back in September, running out 3-1 victors at Old Trafford.
Casemiro made a ten-minute cameo as a substitute that day, with Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen starting in midfield instead, and this gives Ten Hag belief that United have what it takes to prevail in the reverse fixture.
Speaking on Arsenal's rise to the Premier League summit, Ten Hag began: "It is obvious they are in a really good run and I think they deserve the position where they are now.
On this edition of TPL, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss the Manchester derby victory, the upcoming fixture versus Crystal Palace, Wout Weghorst's comments & more! If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
"It is a really good structure and how they play is with a really good mentality and winning attitude in the team. That’s why they are top of the list. They are in a great run but it is up to us to beat that run. We will do everything to do that.
"At the moment we played them when we could already see that the manager and the coaching staff was for a long time already working on the team and you see a really good structure in the team.
"I think they have even improved during the first half of the season and there is a really good spirit in the team as well, so we know what to do.
"We have to be really good and need a really good performance, but if we do we have a good chance also to get out of that performance a good result.
"As I said, we beat Arsenal last time without Casemiro so we have an idea how to do it."