Sunday brought an extremely consequential and thoroughly enthralling North London derby, but Arsenal manager Unai Emery was quick to move on from the victory.
The Gunners came from behind to beat arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 in the biggest game of the Premier League weekend, but Emery said in his postgame press conference that he was already looking ahead to the midweek clash at Manchester United. In the words of alt-rock band Everclear “so much for the afterglow.”
“Now I’m thinking about the match on Wednesday in Manchester,” Unai Emery responded when asked if today’s win was his most meaningful of the short time that he’s been in charge at Arsenal.
“It’s a very big victory. We show our supporters and we give them this victory because it’s a very special match against Tottenham. For us it’s the same, special, but above all three points. Like last week in Bournemouth, and like Wednesday in Manchester.”
The win propelled Arsenal to fourth in the table, level on points with the side they just vanquished but ahead on goal differential tie-breaker. United will come into the Wednesday night match in seventh place and desperate to get points and thus back into the top four race. Kickoff is set for 8pm local time.
According to Google, United have a 41% win probability, compared to Arsenal’s 32%. The draw probability is estimated at 27%.
According to Betway, United are favored to win, backed at 11/8. Arsenal are backed at 19/10 while odds for a draw are 5/2.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.