Saturday 27 February 2016 13:25, UK
Arsene Wenger has backed his Arsenal players to return to form when they face Manchester United in their Super Sunday clash.
The Gunners face United at Old Trafford in a highly-anticipated encounter having drawn 0-0 with Hull in the FA Cup and lost 2-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League in their previous two matches.
They remain in the mix for their first league success since 2004, though, after beating leaders Leicester in their last outing.
Arsenal will also be boosted by their 3-0 win over United at the Emirates in October, when two goals from Alexis Sanchez and a Mesut Ozil strike gave Wenger's men a commanding lead inside the opening 20 minutes.
They have struggled in front of goal lately but Wenger has backed his side to rediscover their goalscoring touch on Sunday.
"They will all get back (to their best)," said Wenger.
"We have to raise our level at the right moment. You want to raise your level and after, individually, the players will benefit from that.
"When we attack well, Sanchez will be very dangerous so we have to focus on attacking well together and after that it's important to remember that we worked very hard to be in this position.
"At half-time against Leicester [losing 1-0], we were eight points behind them. Today we are two points behind. We have to take advantage of that."
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker also believes they will win through, as long as they play a high-tempo game and close down Louis van Gaal's side quickly.
"It will be a different game [from the October win] this time but I want to see the same effort from our side," he told Arsenal Player.
"I think we came out really strong, trusted in ourselves, nicked balls from them in their final third and then broke them down. It was remarkable how we played and how we reacted.
"We were really active from the start, pressed them high and tried to get the ball as quickly as possible. It completely worked out.
"That was our plan, to get the ball early, so the distance between where we got the ball and the goal was short.
"We are dangerous when we win the ball early. I think that's something we need to emphasise."
Watch Manchester United v Arsenal on Super Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 1pm.
