Man. United v Arsenal Tactics

When Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger are ReUnited at Old Trafford on Saturday, the Manchester United and Arsenal managers will both have decisions to make up front.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended and doubts over whether Alexis Sanchez is fully fit, there could be changes for both teams.

As former United defender and Sky Sports tactics expert Danny Higginbotham explains, the impact of those changes could be hugely significant to how the game pans out.

For the home side at Old Trafford, it's not just the loss of Ibrahimovic but how replacing him with Marcus Rashford changes the job of the midfielders as well.

With Michael Carrick providing protection, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata were able to offer support to the Swede in the 3-1 win at Swansea last time out.

What that meant was that these four could get closer to Ibrahimovic," Higginbotham tells Sky Sports.

"Against Swansea, the amount of times that Ibrahimovic came that little bit deeper meant we saw Rooney getting beyond him, Pogba getting beyond him, even Fellaini getting beyond him and Mata getting beyond him.

"Because Mata and Rooney were playing narrow that allowed space for the full-backs to get involved too. They used the width very well.

"But that's how Ibrahimovic plays. The problem that Manchester United could well have is that it could be Rashford up front. I think that changes the midfield for Manchester United.

"While Ibrahimovic wants to come deep, what you've got with Rashford is a player who likes to play on the shoulder.

"He wants to do the complete opposite. He wants to find the spaces between the centre-halves and down the channels.

"So the problem that you have is that all of a sudden Rashford is a lot higher up the pitch. Therefore there's more distance for the midfield players to cover to get up in support.

"That's why I wouldn't be surprised against Arsenal to see more pace in the wide areas. Rashford is a different type of forward so you need different types of midfielders behind him."

It's a similar story with Arsenal given the contrast in styles between Sanchez and the man he's replaced as first-choice forward Olivier Giroud.

Higginbotham feels Sanchez's style of play has led to Mesut Ozil scoring more this season rather than just assisting.

"The difference with Giroud is that he needs that pass," he says. "He needs the support of someone like Ozil to not get beyond him so Ozil can then play the passes through to the likes of Theo Walcott.

"The difference when Sanchez is playing up front is massive because what you'll find with his build and how quick he is, is that he can turn on his own in one or two touches.

"What that means is that Ozil doesn't even have to worry about it. He's off. So is Walcott. What they can actually do is get beyond Sanchez and they've done it so often this season.

"There are very different striker options for both teams and it will be interesting to see how it plays out and how it impacts on the midfield players."

Credit: Skuysports.com