Arsenal FC: If They Lost to Liverpool, What Is to Come vs. Manchester United?

Just a few days ago, Arsenal suffered a horrible 2-0 loss to Liverpool; just thinking of it makes me sick. The first goal was a saddening own goal by Aaron Ramsey; he didn't even intend to hit it anywhere. Luis Suarez received a pass from Meireles in the box, and with one flick, the ball went off Ramsey's head, and into the goal. The second goal was just class by the Reds, one touch passing that lead to a Luis Suarez finish. Every Gunner fan must have been devastated. If this is what happens to Arsenal after a match against Liverpool, then just imagine what could happen against the Gunner's next Premiere League opponent, Manchester United!

Manchester have proven that they are ready for another season by clinching their first two games. The first was against West Brom. The Manchester side came back from a won goal deficit with a goal from Wayne Rooney and new signing, Ashley young. In addition, they just recently won a match against Tottenham, with a first goal from youngster, Danny Welbeck, and a second from Brazilian, Anderson, and a third and final winner from none other than Wayne Rooney. Six points for the club, while Arsenal are busily sulking with one point. 

Arsenal couldn't start the season with a win but they managed a controversial draw against Newcastle United, with cards flying both ways, it was one bloodbath. The next week, they suffer a loss to Liverpool. I don't think the Gunners will manage to salvage something from the upcoming match with defensive problems, midfield problems, and attacking problems.

Defense, Defense, Defense. The past couple years have been a devastating year defensively. Arsenal's best defender, Thomas Vermaelan, is prone to injuries. Notice I said he is the Gunner's best defender. This means that when he is injured, we have some defenders who can't defend the way they are supposed to defend. Last year, Thomas suffered injury almost the whole season; we missed him a lot. We conceded goals here and there, and let's not forget their memorable showdown against Newcastle, where they blew a 4-0 lead, to finish the match as a 4-4 draw. What a day.

Recently, Manchester City bought one of our good defenders, Gael Clichy. That left us with Kieran Gibbs. Kieran is a decent left back; I mean he is good at attacking down the side, but his defense isn't that good. We need a left back that can attack, but also defend when necessary, and Kieran Gibbs isn't that package. Arsenal really need to shape up this area of the pitch if they want to see some change. Against Manchester, I'm sure that Wayne Rooney and Nani are going to take advantage of the holes in the Gunner's defense.

Midfield. There is a lot to talk about in the midfield, such as one of the Arsenal greats, Cesc Fábregas, who recently left the club to head to hometown Barcelona, where he has already won a trophy, Supercopa. This midfield man was a stellar playmaker. Samir Nasri was another great midfielder, one of our top scorers last year. He is currently involved in a move to Manchester City. With Cesc gone, Arsenal are trying to find a good fit for that midfield position. They are interested in Frenchman, Eden Hazard, and a bunch of others. If Nasri leaves, that will leave in even bigger hole to stitch back together.

We do have Jack Wilshere, who has a load of talent, but one thing he doesn't have yet is experience. Once he gets experience, I wouldn't be surprised to see the player playing close to or even better than the way Fábregas played. Alex Song is a pretty good midfielder: good tackler, decent passer, but he tends to get a bunch of yellow cards, and sometimes red ones. This leaves us with a rather empty defensive midfield, and we would probably have to put in Tomas Rosicky. He is one of Arsenal's least effective, efficient defenders. Out of all the playing time he got last season, he only managed to score one goal from a cross. Until they can't find another creative midfielder, Arsenal will be outclassed in this area for a while. Manchester United will probably take advantage of this to out-pass Arsenal's midfield.

Finally, there are the Gunner's attackers. Right now, our best forward is Robin van Persie. He has been scoring a good amount of goals last season and during the pre-season, but he needs to score even more this year. I find it hard to believe he didn't create a chance for himself to score during the matches against Newcastle and Liverpool. If Arsenal are to win matches, we need some prolific goal-scorers and Robin needs to be one of them. Theo Walcott. He is a young speedster who has been a beneficial addition to the Gunner's squad. He has produced quite a few goals last year and during the pre-season, and has scored some goals of his own. He is a great player, but one thing he lacks at the moment is experience, just like Wilshere. Once he gets experience, he will be able to get past players even more easily and get an even better chance at goal that he is more likely to finish.

Arsene Wenger recently signed Lille striker Gervinho. He has been pretty effective to this Arsenal team, scoring some goals, assisting some more. But in the game against Newcastle, he just had to get suspended for three games, Liverpool, Manchester United, Swansea. If Gervinho hadn't got suspended, the Gunners might not have lost to Liverpool; they might have scored and won. Instead, Andrei Arshavin will be playing on the left, and he hasn't been having consistent performances last year and this year so far. I think that this shouldn't be too much of a challenge for the Manchester back four. But you never know, Arsenal can always string something together and leave Manchester's defense hanging.

Ultimately, this upcoming match between Arsenal and Manchester United is going to be quite an interesting one and I am looking forward to seeing some goals. My final prediction for the match is that Manchester United is going to take the win scoring three goals, with Nani and Rooney scoring at least one. But they will also concede a goal; I think it will be van Persie who will score a goal.

So what do you think will be the turn-out of the match?