Gary Neville expects Arsenal to win on Sunday due to Manchester United being without Casemiro.
The Brazilian midfielder, who has been one of our most outstanding players this term, picked up his fifth booking in the Premier League against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. That means he faces a one-match suspension which sees him ruled out of the game against Arsenal.
It was a huge blow for United because Erik ten Hag was preparing Fred to come on, possibly to replace his counterpart, just before the referee showed him the yellow card with just ten minutes of normal time left on the clock.
The booking came for a heavy challenge on Wilfried Zaha and it was one he had to make.
Ten Hag knew Casemiro was walking a tightrope when he started the midfielder during the week, but Gary Neville has backed the manager’s decision.
Neville backs Ten Hag for running the risk of starting Casemiro on Wednesday night.
“Casemiro getting booked ahead of Sunday is a massive blow because he’s been pivotal for him [Ten Hag],” Neville told Sky Sports, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “I thought Casemiro would play, I didn’t buy into this idea that he’d be rested because Crystal Palace are too good a team.
“It wasn’t a good challenge either, to be fair, it could have been an orange, nearer to a red than a yellow, it happens though. Manchester United have got to pick it up now, it’s a massive game on Sunday against Arsenal.
“It’s just a bit of a blip for United but if you’d have offered four points before the derby you’d have taken it but to win that and be 1-0 up in the 90th minute it’s just disappointing.”
The former United right-back went on to add that United have already beaten Arsenal without Casemiro in the side this season, but they will have to play extremely well to do it again.
“They beat them without Casemiro last time,” he added. “They’re going to have to play extremely well, defend well especially in the first half hour when Arsenal are electric but they don’t have a great bench.
“If you get through that first period of the game what you’re going to face is what you’re going to face later on in the game. They had that problem against Newcastle who defended really well against them. But Arsenal are in great form, massive favourites for the game with Casemiro out.
“United have got to hang in there for the first part of the game and they are dangerous on the counter-attack. But without Casemiro I expect Arsenal to win on Sunday.”
