Arsenal become the biggest threat to their own chances and now do have reasons to get nervous even if it is just Manchester United

Smiles has been restored to the faces of fans around the Theater of dreams as happening both on and off the pitch since their win over Liverpool has favoured the club.

It has been wins after wins thereon. First was the signing of Casemiro from Real Madrid ahead of the game against Liverpool, obviously ending their cry for a proven Central Defensive Midfield over the past years.

That was followed by a breakthrough in their pursuit of Antony from Ajax before sealing a 1-0 win over Southampton at the Saint Mary’s thanks to a Bruno Fernandes second half strike, in an early kick-off in the Premier League last weekend.

Antony completed the move on Wednesday and Martin Dubravka was also added as backup to David de Gea just before the end of the window in a loan deal from Newcastle United.

The day got even before after the full time whistle in their mid-week fixture at the King Power, as Jadon Sancho’s first half striker had sealed a 1-0 win to make it three wins in the last three, taking them up to fifth on the log.

Arsenal on their own have started the season better than anyone else in the league and have remained perfect after five games. However, recent happenings is a threat to their impressive form.

Injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny forced them to go out in search of a Central Defensive Midfield on deadline day but with all their efforts, they ended the day with nothing.

Three bids were tabled to Aston Villa for Brazilian midfielder, Douglas Luiz, who has a year left on his contract but Villa rejected all the three bids in succession, and maintained their stance that the player is not for sale.

Arsenal reached agreement on personal terms with Luiz as they discussed their initial bid of £20 million, which was later improved to £23 million and then a final bid of £25 million just to persuade Villa into selling but the Villains remain unmoved.

This means Arsenal will now have only Sambi Lokonga, who was not considered a No.6 at the start of the campaign, available as a makeshift option, though he has played there in the past but is currently being trained to take up a different role.

His introduction in Partey’s absence costed the club last season before Arteta choose to entrust the role to Elneny instead, but it now looks Arteta will have to again trust Lokonga as both Partey and Elneny are now ruled out for the coming weeks.

The Belgian had a decent outing against Villa in midweek but that was a team whose only win this season has come against a lacklustre Everton and are yet to pick up anything positive other than that, having just three points from five games.

The game against Manchester United will be an entirely different challenge, one so tough that it would never have crossed the mind of Arteta to name Lokonga in the starting XI if he have even Mohammed Elneny available.

Martin Ødegaard and Aaron Ramsdale will also be accessed to see if they can recover in time and train with the rest of the team before the Sunday evening game while Oleksandr Zinchenko has been ruled out by the manager.

Manchester United could be set to unleash Antony on Sunday and it is most likely Casemiro will get his first start having featured as a substitute against Southampton and Leicester City. This is make it even more difficult for Arsenal, who are struggling to have their players fit for the game.

The contrast in fortune of availability of players is more than enough reason for Arsenal to get nervous even with their impressive form as it has started to look like the momentum is slowly getting away from the Gunners while the otherwise is the case for their rival.

Arsenal’s record at the Old Trafford has not been impressive of late as well with just one win in their last 15 league travels to the United ground, though, the Gunners have been better in head to head lately but the good results have come at the Emirates.

It is the first meeting between Mikel Arteta and Erik Ten Hag and it is the later who will be feeling more confident heading into the fixture while the former would have started to rue the absence of his players.

With their perfect start to the season on the line, Arteta will hope his side can control the game as they have done in most of the games this season, thus allowing his creative players to get on the ball more often and limit the activities of the United attackers.

This will be very difficult to achieve with Lokonga potentially coming up against Casemiro and the likes but collectively, the Spaniard will hope his side can frustrate the star stuffed United midfield and the availability of Ødegaard will be key.

Manchester United have kept clean sheets in each of their last two games and the combination of Varane and Martinez has proven reliable so far. A different test awaits them on Sunday, though they can be said to have passed the Liverpool test.

Also, the United wins have not been convincing albeit they have beaten Liverpool in the run but that was a Liverpool team yet to win a game up to that point. On papers, the injuries setback for Arsenal is the only reason the Gunners can not be outright favourite for the points.

Arsenal have kept clean sheets in their last two away games but it will be a busy evening for thir defence at Old Trafford, in the absence of Thomas Partey to shield the backline, though it will also be kind to remember that they’ve kept a clean sheet in each of the last three times they’ve won a league game at Old Trafford.

In the absence of Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny, this will be Arsenal’s biggest test so far this season and the same can be said for Manchester United if they are to make it four from their last four.

Manchester United are now favourites heading into the match but Arsenal will also want to prove a point and maintain their perfect start to the season. A tense and nervy game awaits at Old Trafford on Sunday, where fans will get to know who wants it more.

A good side by either side will really go a long way to deciding the winner of the match and both will battle to a hold of proceeding from kickoff.

Arsenal have been known to see out games where they’ve led at half time so United will be wary of allowing their opponent decide the early exchange, this will make the battle even more interesting.