Arsenal aims to secure a historic fifth consecutive Premier League win over Manchester United when they meet at Old Trafford this weekend. Following their impressive victory against PSV in the UEFA Champions League earlier this week, Arsenal will now refocus on their league challenge. Currently, they sit 2 points behind league leaders Liverpool. Heading into this match, the Gunners are riding high on four straight wins against United, and a victory would mark them as the first team to achieve this feat against United in five successive league matches. As stated on their official website, Arsenal expressed their excitement about potentially making history at Old Trafford. After their 3-0 win against United at the Emirates in December, they extended their winning streak against United to four matches, which is the longest run they’ve had against them in top-flight football. The challenge of winning four in a row against such a formidable opponent emphasizes how noteworthy this achievement is, considering they first met in the old First Division back in 1906. Since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, only three other teams have managed to defeat United in four consecutive matches. Liverpool achieved this milestone at the turn of the century during Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous era, while their rivals Manchester City replicated it ten years ago, and Brighton & Hove Albion completed a quadruple in 2023, yet none of these teams won their next matches against United. “If we leave the north-west with a win on Sunday evening, we would be the first team in Premier League history to defeat Manchester United five consecutive times in this competition. Our winning streak began in January 2023 when Eddie Nketiah scored a late winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory at home, followed by another late win in August when Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus helped us secure a 3-1 victory. We then achieved our first league double over United since the 2006/07 season, with Leandro Trossard scoring at Old Trafford in May 2024, and three months ago, goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba handed Ruben Amorim his first defeat as manager of the Red Devils. This current winning streak is already our best against Manchester United in the top flight, as we had achieved three consecutive wins on four previous occasions. Sunday also offers us the opportunity to end a 46-year wait for consistent success at the Theatre of Dreams. Thanks to Trossard’s goal on that rainy May day last year, we now have the opportunity to achieve consecutive league wins away at Old Trafford for the first time since the 1970s. In November 1977, Malcolm Macdonald and Frank Stapleton led us to a 2-1 victory in Manchester, and we returned in February 1979, with Alan Sunderland scoring twice – just months before his iconic winning goal in the FA Cup final against the same team. Winning back-to-back matches at United’s stadium has only been accomplished twice in our history, the other instance occurring between 1962 and 1963. Consequently, if Mikel Arteta’s team secures a victory this weekend, this win against our long-time rivals should be one to genuinely celebrate.
