GARY NEVILLE believes Arsenal are “massive favourites” to beat Manchester United following Casemiro’s suspension.
Both teams are on a brilliant run of form with United only denied a 10th consecutive win by a last-minute Crystal Palace goal on Wednesday.
That was a setback for the Red Devils, but possibly not as bad as the yellow card Casemiro received, which rules him out of Sunday’s clash at The Emirates.
Neville believes losing such a “pivotal” player hands the advantage to the league leaders, but believes United’s counter-attack gives them a chance of winning – if the defence plays its part early on.
He told Sky Sports: “Casemiro getting booked ahead of Sunday is a massive blow because he’s been pivotal.
“Manchester United have got to pick it up now, it’s a massive game on Sunday against Arsenal.
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“They beat them without Casemiro last time. They’re going to have to play extremely well, defend well especially in the first half hour when Arsenal are electric but they don’t have a great bench.
“If you get through that first period of the game what you’re going to face is what you’re going to face later on in the game.
“They had that problem against Newcastle who defended really well against them. But Arsenal are in great form, massive favourites for the game with Casemiro out.
“United have got to hang in there for the first part of the game and they are dangerous on the counter-attack.
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“But without Casemiro I expect Arsenal to win on Sunday.”
A win for United would see them reduce the game to the Gunners to just five points, but Arsenal are out for revenge after losing 3-1 at Old Trafford earlier this season.
Neville’s former United team-mate Paul Parker agrees that losing Casemiro is significant and hands Arsenal the upper hand.
He told Apostagolos: “Arsenal are the favourites regardless of whether Man United were missing Casemiro or not. Everyone knows how important Casemiro is, so it is a massive blow for Man United to not have him for that game.”
“I think Erik ten Hag made a huge mistake by not subbing Casemiro off. Everyone knew that he was in danger of receiving that yellow card, so ten Hag really didn’t do himself any favour prior to the Arsenal game.”
“Casemiro missing against Arsenal will be the topic of every conversation because everyone knows that no matter what Arsenal now are even bigger favourites because Man United are missing their most important player.”
Former Arsenal star Paul Merson also has faith in Mikel Arteta and his side to pick up three points.
He said: “This is a much harder game for Arsenal than the Tottenham match. Casemiro is a big player, and United would’ve had just as much of a chance as Arsenal if he was available.
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“He brings experience to the midfield and would’ve been on Martin Odegaard. They’ll miss his presence in this match.
“Luke Shaw marked Erling Haaland out of the game last week – leave him out of the lineup at your own peril. With Casemiro suspended for this match, I’m backing Arsenal to win this game.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
