The Gunners have failed to win in their last five meetings against United but, ahead of this eagerly-anticipated showdown, the north London club are playing some of their best football for several years.

Arsenal currently sit at the top of the Premier League and have a real chance of the title this season.

New signing Marouane Chamakh has bagged 10 goals for his new club in the campaign so far and has been the frontman the side have been missing since the departure of Thierry Henry while a player that has really blossomed in recent weeks is the Frenchman Samir Nasri.

The former Marseille midfielder has stepped up his game and has become one of the key players for the Gunners.

His brilliant brace against Fulham last weekend were two of the best individual goals you will see and he will be looking to take his excellent form to Old Trafford on Monday.

It’s a shame that Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas will not feature in this clash of the titans as he still has not recovered from a hamstring injury. It would have been a great contest between him and United veteran Paul Scholes, who at first was a doubt for United but could now start for the home side.

Sir Alex Ferguson should have Rio Ferdinand back from injury for the game as he has recovered from a tight hamstring and the United boss will be looking to the inconsistent Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney to get the goals for them.

After bagging an impressive five goals against Blackburn Rovers, Berbatov failed to show that prolific edge against Valencia in their final group game of the Champions League last week.

The Bulgarian striker has had plenty of opportunities to add to his goalscoring tally this season, but could not buy a goal against the Spanish side.

Rooney has only managed two goals so far this term and has been largely disappointing since he, like many of his team-mates, failed to live up to expectations for England at the World Cup in South Africa.

However, these kinds of games against big sides like Arsenal are the occasions where the former Everton player usually shines and it would not be a surprise if he got on the scoresheet on Monday (Rooney Evs to score anytime).

These are always close affairs but with the way Arsenal are playing at the moment they could pull of another victory away from home.

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