Arsenal play against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Thursday and Mikel Arteta has some tough decisions on his hands.
The Red Devils will have to wait another game for Ralf Rangnick to be the dugout, but under Michael Carrick they are on the back of a good result against Chelsea, where they gained their first points against one of the title challengers this season.
The challenge has been made even harder for Arsenal, as Jadon Sancho has finally started to find form in a Manchester United shirt, after scoring his last two matches since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's departure.
The Englishman’s form also poses the question of whether Arteta is to continue playing Nuno Tavares or reintegrate Kieran Tierney into the starting line-up.
Tavares has been excellent at left-back since stepping in for the injured Tierney earlier in the season.
The young defender has been fearless since coming into the team, and his energy down the left-hand side is contagious for the rest of the team.
However, he did show his inexperience in the match against Liverpool where Arsenal lost 4-0, which Arteta definitely should not overlook.
Anfield is a ground where experience matters and it seemed Tavares lost his composure due to the influence of the occasion, which is why he made a mistake that caused a Liverpool goal in the second half.
Old Trafford is very similar to Anfield, as the two grounds are where Arsenal struggles the most in the Premier League.
Due to Arsenal’s difficulties in Manchester, it may be wiser for Arteta to start Tierney, a player with more experience and is certainly more solid defensively.
Tavares also struggled to deal with Mohamed Salah who was playing on the right-wing, and with Sancho's improvement in form, Tierney might be better suited to dealing with his threat.
Manchester United will also have the manager bounce behind them, due to the fixture being Rangnick’s first game as boss, so Arteta should be on the more cautious scale when approaching the match, and thinking more cautiously would edge towards Tierney starting the match.
It would be a no-brainer if Tierney had been playing recently, but he hasn’t featured during the whole month of November, meaning he could be rusty, which gives Arteta a tough decision to make.
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