‘Man Utd have more than just Vardy’ – Red Devils can copy Leicester plan to punish Arsenal, says Wright
Manchester United have “more than just” Jamie Vardy and can copy Leicester’s plan to punish Arsenal, according to Ian Wright.
Arsenal suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season at the hands of Leicester at Emirates Stadium at the weekend. An 80th minute Vardy goal was enough to give the Foxes a 1-0 victory as Arteta’s side missed the chance to close the gap on league leaders Everton to just a point.
The Gunners will now have to pick themselves up quickly ahead of a Europa League meeting with Dundalk on Thursday, before their focus switches to a heavyweight clash against United on November 1.
The Red Devils are two points behind Arsenal having endured a miserable start to the campaign, but recent wins over Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain combined with a solid display in their draw against Chelsea on Saturday have somewhat lifted the mood of gloom at Old Trafford.
Wright has urged his old club to take a more direct route towards goal in Manchester, saying they have overplayed in the final third in recent weeks.
The Arsenal legend believes United will pose Arteta’s men an even greater threat than Leicester next Sunday, as he told Premier League Productions : “You look at Manchester United as well who are another team that will want to play on the break. You’re going to need to be able to pass through their team, be able to break them down.
“Manchester United will do the same thing [as Leicester] and they’ve got even better players going forward, more than just Vardy.
“It’s a tough one, we knew Leicester were going to be tough and we know Manchester United are going to be tough. Arsenal are going to have to dig in and find a way of getting results without scoring the perfect goal.”
The form of star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been a concern for Arsenal, with the Gabon frontman currently experiencing his worst league goal drought in six years .
He ultimately failed to get back on the scoresheet against Leicester after netting the winner as the Gunners beat Rapid Vienna 2-1 in the Europa League last week, after which Arteta jumped to his defence .
“The expectation for him is that he has to score a goal every game, so this comes with the nature of the big player that he is,” said the Spanish boss. “He needs to handle that and we are here to support him when difficult times are around him.”