Manchester United vs. Arsenal Prediction: Crunch Clash at Old Trafford

• Manchester United endured a dismal campaign in the Premier League last term

• Arsenal are desperate to win the Premier League title after finishing second again

• Who will come out on top when these two giants go head-to-head on Sunday?

Manchester United vs. Arsenal Odds

Odds for Manchester United vs Arsenal can be found in the odds table below. The odds have been taken from the FanDuel Sportsbook. Sign up for a FanDuel account today and grab the welcome offer: Bet $5, Get $300 in Bonus Bets if your bet wins.

My +250 Pick for Manchester United vs. Arsenal 

Go for a draw when Manchester United face Arsenal. The Red Devils can avoid defeat in their opening game of the season.

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Manchester United Must Kick on After Terrible Season

The main positive for Manchester United is that they surely cannot be as bad this season as they were last. A 15th-place finish in the Premier League and a painful defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the Europa League made 2024/25 one of United’s worst ever campaigns, with Ruben Amorim unable to bring about an improvement after he replaced Erik ten Hag as manager.

Amorim has now had a full summer to work with his squad, which has been bolstered with the signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko. That essentially gives United a brand-new offense, with those three players and Amad Diallo making for a talented quartet of attackers. There is also the option of using Bruno Fernandes in the front three, although Amorim seems to prefer him in a deeper midfield berth.

Question marks remain elsewhere in the team, though. United’s roster looked utterly unsuited to Amorim’s favored 3-4-3 formation last season, and another wing-back or two would not have gone amiss. Andre Onana is still the first-choice goalkeeper after two iffy years, while United look short of legs and dynamism in the center of the park. Amorim would love to get a few more bodies in before the window closes on September 1.

Getting off to a good start will be vital. United would build confidence from a winning run at the beginning of the campaign, whereas a string of poor results would see doubt and pessimism creep back in. The fans, at least, retain faith in Amorim, who has shown a ruthless streak throughout his tenure - as evidenced by his sidelining of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho.

Have United done enough to close the gap to the top four? Only time will tell, but they look like outsiders for the Champions League qualification places as things stand.

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Arsenal Fed up of Being the Premier League's Bridesmaids

A few years ago, Arsenal would have bitten several hands off for a second-place finish in the Premier League. Now they are fed up with being what some harshly call ‘first losers’. Runners-up in each of the last three seasons, Arsenal hope that 2025/26 is the year they finally get over the line and claim their first title since 2004.

Liverpool and Manchester City will have something to say about that, with both clubs having heavily strengthened in the transfer market this summer. Arsenal have been busy too, bringing in Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Christian Norgaard among others.

Of those, Gyokores’s arrival is the most significant. Arsenal have been crying out for a genuine center-forward for years; now they finally have one. Gyokeres was prolific during his time with Sporting CP, but the Premier League is on another level to the Portuguese Primeira Liga. If Arsenal are to finally finish atop the table, they need Gyokeres to succeed.

Arsenal regressed last season, allowing Liverpool to capitalize on Manchester City’s surprise collapse. The Gunners dropped too many needless points to teams they ought to have beaten. They are now one of the most defensively solid teams in Europe, but Mikel Arteta’s men have become a little too predictable in attack. Some fans want Arteta to loosen the shackles and allow his players more individual freedom in the final third of the pitch. We will have to wait and see whether or not he is willing to do that.

Arsenal have come on leaps and bounds under Arteta, but this feels like a huge season for a manager who has not won a trophy at the Emirates Stadium in five years. The pressure is on - and Arteta knows that as well as anyone.

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Arsenal Often Find Things Difficult Away to Manchester United

Even at their lowest ebb in the Premier League era, Manchester United denied Arsenal victory at Old Trafford last season. A 1-1 draw in March put the title even further away for Arsenal, who were already some distance behind Liverpool by then.

A degree of cautious optimism has returned to Old Trafford and Amorim will look to harness that on matchday one. Arsenal will have a lot of the ball here, but United will focus on staying compact and disciplined. In Mbeumo and Cunha, they now have two of the best ball-carriers in the division in their side. That will help them break forward at speed in transition.

We anticipate a tight game at Old Trafford, perhaps with two goals at most. From a betting standpoint, though, it is worth taking up generous odds of +250 on a tie at FanDuel between Manchester United and Arsenal.

It feels like these two teams will cancel one another out, and neither Amorim nor Arteta is likely to be too unhappy with a point on the opening weekend.

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How to Watch Manchester United vs. Arsenal

• Teams: Manchester United vs Arsenal

• Location: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

• Date and Time: Sunday, August 17, at 11:30 am ET.

• How to Watch: NBC