There probably isn’t anyone in football who irritates Arsene Wenger as much as Jose Mourinho.
Arsenal’s clashes with Manchester United may no longer determine the Premier League title as they used to either side of the Millennium but Wenger and Mourinho’s desire to outdo each on a personal level will be a fierce motivating factor tomorrow evening.
Wenger’s principal conundrum in attempting to repeat May’s 2-0 win over United is who he opts for to spearhead the attack with Alexandre Lacazette ruled out due to a groin injury sustained during Wednesday’s 5-0 thumping over Huddersfield Town.
Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have only started four games together since the former arrived from Lyon for a club record £52.7million. The Gunners won every game and scored 14 goals in the process.
One of the reasons why it took until October 22 for that triumvirate to line up in the same team – aside from various injury concerns and Wenger’s rotation policy in Europe – was Welbeck starting Arsenal’s first five Premier League games.
His inclusion as something of a surprise given the tantalising prospect of Lacazette, Ozil and Sanchez wreaking havoc but Wenger is a keen admirer of Welbeck’s work-rate and versatility.
Lacazette’s mobility creates space for both Ozil and Sanchez to flourish and Welbeck is the closest approximation Wenger has available, especially given his comparable speed.
Welbeck’s run in the League team only ended with a groin injury at Chelsea in mid-September which sidelined him for a month until suffering a hamstring problem upon his return at Watford on October 14.
He has not started a League game since and so throwing him in to face United might represent something of a gamble but if anybody can compete with Wenger’s personal motivation against Mourinho, it is Welbeck against United.
“It’s just business,” he said after scoring against his former club at the end of last season. It was the third time in three games he has come back to haunt the club he joined as an eight-year-old.
He left for £16m in 2014 with then United manager Louis van Gaal’s damning assessment that he “doesn’t have the record of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney and that is the standard” ringing in his ears.
Mourinho, for his part, claimed in March he would never had sold Welbeck, Angel di Maria or Javier Hernandez. But Welbeck’s determination to challenge the perception that he operates a level just below the elite strikers in the division is never stronger than against the club where that reputation was ultimately forged.
Wenger could shift Alexis Sanchez, who was substituted against Huddersfield with a minor hamstring complaint, into a central position or opt for Olivier Giroud, who was not exactly bullish about his prospects when asked whether he was ready to feature on Saturday.
“We will see, I don’t know,” he said. “The manager has different options but I will get ready like all the other players.”
Manchester City’s stunning start to the League season only enhances the sense that Arsenal and United are struggling to recapture former glories as the once great duopoly of English football.
“The history of the game plays a little part because it is two big clubs and that always creates a big game – the players know that a lot will be said before and after it,” said Wenger.
“Of course that has an influence. But it does not define the season as much because we are early on. During some seasons when I was here it was the final of the championship but that is not the case anymore as we have six or seven teams that fight at the top. But it is still a very big game and a very important one.”
Assuming City follow all known logic and beat West Ham on Sunday, the losers between Arsenal and United face a mountain to climb in the title race with the Christmas decorations barely dusted down.
The Gunners are already 12 points behind while United are City’s closest challengers yet they are eight back after running out 4-2 winners at Watford in midweek.
United have selection concerns of their own with Eric Bailly struggling to be fit due to a groin problem and Nemanja Matic limping off at Vicarage Road with a muscular injury.
Romelu Lukaku has scored just once in his last 11 matches for United and that run has prompted some to question whether the £75m man is of sufficient calibre to lead a title charge. Welbeck can sympathise.