Jose Mourinho must refind his touch at Arsenal or Manchester United's title chase will be all but over

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Jose Mourinho is still waiting for an away win against one of the Premier League’s top six with Manchester United.

We like to think of him as the best when it comes to rolling into a rival’s backyard, pissing on the pansies and knocking over the flower pots – think of him charging down a touchline to celebrate with Costinha, or pointing to the sky at the Nou Camp, or hiding the ball behind his back at Anfield, out of Steven Gerrard’s desperate reach.

Mourinho is yet to enjoy such a moment in this chapter of his career, though. Instead, among other disappointments, there has been one abject humiliation at Stamford Bridge, two unambitious and goalless draws away to Liverpool and even a first career defeat against Arsène Wenger.

On Saturday, United return to the Emirates. Back in May, Mourinho, with one eye on a Europa League semi-final against Celta Vigo, selected a weakened line-up and saw Arsenal end his side’s run of 25 league matches unbeaten in May. “Forget it,” was his curt reply when asked about that game on Friday. “Forget it. Forget me against Wenger. Forget the story.”

One defeat may be easy for Mourinho to ignore, but it is becoming far harder to overlook his underwhelming record in these types of matches. His United have taken just three points from six games on the road against the direct rivals, scoring only once. Even then, Wayne Rooney’s strike against Tottenham Hotspur was a late consolation.

It is especially difficult to gloss over United’s underachievement in these fixtures when Manchester City seem capable of beating any team, any time and anywhere. Pep Guardiola’s side have already beaten the defending champions away this season. They should certainly have no problem overcoming West Ham United at the Etihad on Sunday, meaning ahead of next weekend’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford, United will need three points to keep pace.

The derby will provide Mourinho with his best chance of laying a glove on City and reducing their eight-point lead, but fail to beat Arsenal and that chance will be lost. Defeat at the Emirates would most likely hand the leaders a double-digit gap at the top of the table, making any positive result for United a week later seem far less significant.

All of which would suggest that Mourinho cannot afford to approach Saturday’s trip in the same manner as those to Anfield and Stamford Bridge earlier this season. Predictably though, his pre-match remarks suggested anyone hoping for something other than strict pragmatism will be disappointed. Would he play with more risk in order to leave with a result? “It depends what you think about risk,” he said.

“When we have the ball we are going to attack with 11 players. When Arsenal has the ball we’re going to defend with 11 players... In the beginning of football, the guy who decided to say ‘defenders’, ‘attackers’, this guy was bad. Everybody has to defend and everybody has to attack, especially in modern football.”

And yet, the idea of every outfield United player bounding up the Emirates pitch to attack later today is a fanciful one. Arsenal are an in-form side enjoying their football at the moment, one not fazed by the schedule pile-up as Wenger is able to split his squad across domestic and European fronts. They are more than capable of winning, perhaps even winning comfortably. Mourinho knows that and that is why little will change.

United’s best hope then is that for the first time in an away fixture, their manager’s methods bring about a statement win. Mourinho must do what he once did best.