By ,
Published January 08, 2015
London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Manchester United's injury woes will be tested on Saturday when the Red Devils limp to the Emirates to take on Arsenal.
United's laundry list of injuries has forced manager Louis van Gaal to use 37 different players across all competitions thus far, the most of any other side in the Premier League.
And to make matters worse for the Dutch tactician, Daley Blind, David De Gea and Angel Di Maria all suffered injury scares while away with their respective national teams this week, while striker Radamel Falcao has picked up a new calf injury.
Di Maria and De Gea are expected to be fit in time to take part in Saturday's clash at the Emirates, but Blind will miss a significant amount of time with a knee injury and Falcao faces a two-week lay-off with his latest ailment.
Arsenal, meanwhile, is getting some of its key players back from the treatment table.
Striker Olivier Giroud has made an early recovery from a broken tibia suffered on Aug. 23 and has been cleared to feature in Saturday's clash, while captain Mikel Arteta also appears to have regained maximum fitness ahead of the club's meeting with United.
"Giroud and Arteta are both available," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the club's official website. "It's just a question of how ready they are. But they are available.
"(Giroud) is three or four weeks ahead of schedule. Originally we planned to have him back for competition at the beginning of next year. So he's one month ahead."
United enters the weekend in seventh place on 16 points where they sit one point back of Arsenal, but a victory at the Emirates could realistically see the Red Devils climb to fourth in the table.
Swansea City comes into the round in fifth place with 18 points after claiming a narrow victory over the Gunners last time out, but the Welsh club will return to action with a tough test at third-place Manchester City on Saturday.
West Ham United has made a bright start to the season to stake its claim to fourth place with 18 points through 11 games, but the Hammers will need to head to Goodison Park on Saturday for their clash with an underachieving Everton side.
Should Swansea and West Ham suffer defeats from their respective road encounters, a win for United would be enough to bring Van Gaal's men into a coveted top-four position.
Chelsea will be out to preserve its unbeaten start to the season on Saturday when the club welcomes West Bromwich Albion to Stamford Bridge, while Newcastle will go for its fifth successive Premier League victory when it welcomes QPR to St. James' Park.
Rounding out Saturday's action, Leicester City will play host to Sunderland and last-place Burnley will hope to climb out of the cellar with a positive result at Stoke City.
Liverpool sits in 11th place after dropping its last two league contests, but the Reds will fancy their chances of getting back on track on Sunday against a Crystal Palace side that is winless in its last five league outings.
Tottenham has dropped three of its last four Premier League contests while Hull City has managed just two points from its last four matches. Both clubs will be aiming to stop the rot and collect a victory when they meet at the KC Stadium on Sunday.
The Premier League slate will conclude on Monday when Aston Villa, with just one point and one goal scored in its last seven Premier League outings, will look to get back in the win column with three points against second-place Southampton at Villa Park.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/wounded-united-set-for-arsenal-test