Arteta wary of Man Utd's improved form under Michael Carrick

JAKARTA - Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta is aware of Manchester United's improved performance under interim coach Michael Carrick, ahead of the two teams' meeting at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday night at 11:00 p.m.

"Yes, Michael brought new ideas. Their intensity increased and it was clearly visible in the Manchester derby from their attitude and the way they played," Arteta said on Arsenal's website on Saturday, January 24.

"We expect a difficult game, but we will adapt. We are playing at home and know how important that is for us."

Manchester United came to the Emirates Stadium with high confidence after defeating Manchester City 2-0 in the last match.

The victory made Arsenal's gap at the top of the table even wider to seven points from City.

Arteta admitted United will be a different team this time around when they were beaten 0-1 by Arsenal last August.

Regarding the condition of the players, Arteta still has not confirmed whether Calafiori and Hincapie are ready to perform this weekend.

Calafiori has been out since last month with a muscle injury, while Hincapie suffered a groin injury earlier this month.

"We still have one more training session, so we'll see how he is tomorrow after training," Arteta explained.

In the front line, a tight competition took place between Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres to fill the starting position.

Both were impressive when Arsenal won 3-1 over Inter Milan in the Champions League when Jesus scored two goals and Gyokeres contributed one goal from the bench.

Arteta also confirmed that Kai Havertz is almost fully recovered, while Max Dowman is the only player still sidelined due to injury.