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Arsenal may come up against a threadbare Manchester United side at Old Trafford

Jose Mourinho's plans to take on Arsenal in mid-week has suffered two blows with Ashley Young now suspended for the match and Luke Shaw forced off the pitch with an injury.

Both players were involved a 2-2 draw with Southampton that saw Manchester United fail to perform in a season in which they have been off the pace in the battle for a top four spot, let alone the Premier League title race.

Unai Emery will preside over his first north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday December 2 after which the Gunners travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.



Arsenal's hopes of carving out a result up in Manchester will be further boosted by the team that Mourinho was forced into selecting at St Mary's Stadium

Southampton scored twice in the opening 20 minutes to run up a 2-0 lead with the visitors picking only one recognised centre-back in a back three formation.

Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay lined up alongside Phil Jones while Shaw and Young took up position down the flanks as wing-backs

The Saints overran their opponents and were unlucky not to grab a winner in the second half as United were poor once again.

Goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera levelled the score before the half-time break.

Mourinho could be forced into throwing together another makeshift back line to face Arsenal unless his other defensive options pass fitness tests.

Chris Smalling was left out of the match day squad while Eric Bailly is out of favour. Antonio Valencia has also been frozen out.

United could turn to young Diogo Dalot, who replaced Shaw after injury forced him off against Southampton, or Marcos Rojo. The Argentinian was an unused substitute on the south coast
In other injury news, Nacho Monreal could still prove his fitness to play some part against Spurs or United

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