Injuries Promise Goal Harvest for Manchester United at Arsenal

Manchester United may be in for another goal harvest when they play Arsenal on Sunday. The latest team news from the Emirates is not good. Speaking to Arsenal Player, Arsene Wenger gives the following update to the injury situation.

On Thomas Vermaelen (calf) 

"At the moment I don’t think he will make it for Sunday. Let’s hope we have a good surprise. Let’s see how he develops. There may be a test. At the moment we just go day by day but he looks short."
 

On Mikel Arteta (calf)…

"He has no chance. The earliest for him is Aston Villa." 

On Thierry Henry…

"He will have a test on Saturday. He has a calf problem."

Rumors about the availability of Bacary Sagna are not true. He—like Kieran Gibbs—is two to three weeks away from resumption, says Wenger.

When the two teams met in August, the key factor in the heavy defeat Arsenal suffered was the absence of key players.

Then the team was still suffering from the psychological loss of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. Gervinho and Alex Song were both unavailable due to suspension, and neither Arteta nor Per Mertesacker had joined the squad at the time. Vermaelen was also unavailable due to injury.

Now it appears the jinx has struck again. Gervinho is away at the Africa Cup of Nations, and if both Vermaelen and Arteta are unavailable, this should spell trouble for Arsenal.

Followers of Arsenal will recall that the absence of Arteta in the Swansea game was a major factor in Arsenal's troubles in the midfield. 

Right now I don't think there's a better response to the situation than Wenger's "let’s hope we have a good surprise."