Manchester United will look for a second big win in as many weekends when they visit league leaders Arsenal in the late kickoff on Sunday.
Caretaker manager Michael Carrick earned the first victory of his current tenure as the Red Devils (9-5-8, 35 points) deservedly beat visiting Manchester City 2-0 on Jan. 17 thanks to second-half goals by Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu.
Yet even that derby win is tempered by the reality that fifth-place Manchester United are again in a period of transition following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim early this month.
Carrick is expected to stay in his role only until the end of the season. And veteran Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, one of the few consistent performers during an era of instability, announced this week that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Both men apparently will do everything they can to leave the club in a better position for those who follow in their footsteps, as evidenced by Casemiro’s excellent 81-minute shift in the derby.
“I think the announcement for Case was for clarity as much as anything,” Carrick said of the midfielder, who turns 34 next month. “It was kind of decided anyway before I arrived, so it’s not just a knee-jerk decision. But the type of personality, the character that he is, I think it shows you, the performance last week, where he is mentally and how much it means for him to be here and finish the season strong.”
Arsenal (15-2-5, 50 points) were held to a scoreless draw at Nottingham Forest last weekend but still added a point to their lead on Manchester City and Aston Villa.
They followed that result with a 3-1 win at Inter Milan on Tuesday night, with the recently returned Gabriel Jesus scoring his second and third goals in all competitions this season before substitute Viktor Gyokeres added his ninth to seal the contest.
With Kai Havertz also back from an extended absence, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta hopes the best may be yet to come for Gyokeres in his first season in the Premier League after his summer transfer from Sporting Lisbon.
“He started without a preseason and (with) a lot of minutes and a lot of responsibility on him,” Arteta said. “Now the fact that we have other options as well, I think it’s something really positive, especially for the squad, and you could see the other day, Gabi scoring two goals, Viktor coming on and making an impact to win the game.”
–Field Level Media
