Manchester United v Arsenal! Are Arsenal Title Contenders?

The Arsenal bandwagon is definitely gaining momentum now following the Gunners' impressive win in Dortmund in midweek.

Top of the table, 5 points clear of 2nd place in the Premier League, and one win away from the 2nd round of the Champions League.

These are definitely great times to be a Gunners fan and there is possibly more to come, with the next challenge for Arsene Wenger's young team - Manchester United.

Man U had a less stellar week in Europe

Many seasons ago, this would have been a battle between 1st and 2nd. Even today, it is still one of the blue riband games of the Premier League season, but weirdly, it is Manchester United, 8 points behind in 8th, who are the ones badly needing a win to keep their title hopes alive.

United are at home of course but this season, that has really meant nothing much, with Manchester United's wins so far this season coming against lowly opposition, i.e. Crystal Palace and Stoke City.

Against the top ten sides, United have only managed draws - and there was that shock defeat to West Brom, their last home game before the last international break.

On the other hand, Arsenal are unbeaten away from home with one draw and 4 wins out of 5 games. Mind you, all those wins came against sides in the bottom half of the table with the draw so this will definitely be by far the Gunners' toughest test yet.

However, Arsenal have beaten two sides in the top ten albeit at home - Liverpool, most recently - and given their performance at Dortmund in midweek - the first English side to beat Dortmund at home, will be very confident of getting a result at Old Trafford.

As long as Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are fit for selection, Arsenal should have at their disposal, the in-form midfield partnership in the Premier League, and hold the trump card here against Manchester United who have had issues trying to sort out their best midfield partnership.

Don't expect Arsenal to play any tighter than they usually do - expect the Gunners to employ the same tactics that they used in Germany, i.e. absorbing pressure and then hitting back on the counterattack with their pacy wingers, Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla kicking things off and enabling Ramsey, Ozil and Giroud to catch up and have a shot at goal.

Mikel Arteta has been playing superbly as the holding midfielder too even if he does often seem on the verge of imploding. Arteta's desire has been evident this season and the defence has benefited tremendously with his presence in front of them.

However, the defence will have plenty on their hands - they may rely less on their offside trap than they did in Germany given the elusiveness of Robin van Persie, Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney. van Persie would also know the positional play of his former teammates too and that could be the key for United scoring first.

So a big game with plenty of intrigue.

Shame it's not till Sunday evening!