Premier League football returns this weekend to the delight of football fans up and down the country, and there’s a mouth-watering contest at Old Trafford as Manchester United host Arsenal in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Jose Mourinho’s United go into the encounter six points adrift of the Gunners in the table, having won just five of their opening 11 games, as well as suffering frustrating defeats against Manchester City, Watford, and Chelsea.

However, the Red Devils picked up a vital 3-1 win at Swansea prior to the international break, a result which moved them up to sixth in the Premier League table, and just three points behind fifth place Tottenham.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal meanwhile are currently embarking on a 16-match unbeaten run, which dates back to their thrilling 4-3 defeat at home to Liverpool on the opening weekend.

Since then, the Gunners have picked up seven league wins, and have also qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare.

A draw at Tottenham kicked off November for Wenger’s men, a historically tricky month for the club, but they’ll have high hopes of ending a ten-year wait for a league win at Old Trafford on Saturday.

However, United’s recent record and the fact that they’ve got Mourinho at the helm will give United fans cause for optimism, and here are FIVE reasons why they will beat Wenger’s men on Saturday…

Recent Old Trafford record

Old Trafford is not a happy hunting ground for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.

The Gunners haven’t won there in the league since September 2006, when a late Emmanuel Adebayor goal got the better of Sir Alex Ferguson’s United 1-0, although it didn’t prevent United winning a ninth Premier League title that season.

Since then, they’ve drawn twice and lost seven of their meetings at Old Trafford, with perhaps the most infamous their 8-2 drubbing back in 2011, which saw Wenger sent to the stands, and Arsenal battered by a team consisting of Jonny Evans, Anderson, and Tom Cleverley.

Arsenal did record an FA Cup victory in Manchester last year en route to winning the trophy but, all in all, it’s not looking good for the Gunners on Saturday.

United may not be in great form, but they can take a lot of confidence from Arsenal’s poor record, and apparent mental block they’ve got at Old Trafford.

Mourinho factor

Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger aren’t the best of friends, and it’s Mourinho that always seems to get the better of the Arsenal boss.

Wenger has only ever recorded one victory over the Portuguese, and that was in the Community Shield final of 2015, but otherwise it’s played 14, drawn six and lost eight against Mourinho.

The United manager has never lost to Wenger in the Premier League, and the former Chelsea boss also inflicted a 6-0 defeat on the Arsenal manager in his 1000th game in charge back in 2014.

Just to add another dimension to it, Wenger has never beaten a new United manager in their first league meeting, with Sir Alex Ferguson, Louis van Gaal, and even David Moyes all beating the Gunners in their first meeting with Wenger.

Like above, Mourinho and United will go into Saturday’s game confident that they can maintain their excellent records over both Wenger and Arsenal.

United were better against Swansea

Although it was almost two weeks ago and it was against a pretty hopeless Swansea side, United were much improved in their last Premier League game.

Mourinho’s men picked up their first league win since the end of September by comfortably beating the Swans 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium, and will go into Saturday’s game with renewed confidence after a much-needed victory.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic finally ended his goal-drought with a fine brace, while Paul Pogba’s stunning strike was demonstrative of his growing confidence following his big money move in the summer.

Pogba is improving, and United are slowly improving, and they’ll fancy their chances of beating a title rival on Saturday.

Mourinho’s men have to win

Even at this early stage of the season, this is a must-win game for United.

Mourinho’s men are already six points adrift of the Gunners in fourth, and eight points behind league leaders Liverpool, so any dropped points here would be hugely damaging for their title hopes.

Although there’s 26 games to go after this one, an 11-point gap to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, and even a nine-point gap to Arsenal, could be too large a gap to overcome.

Yet, victory could take them level on points with Tottenham in fifth, and within a win of Arsenal and possibly neighbours Manchester City should they lose at Crystal Palace.

Victory could end the talk of a crisis at Old Trafford, while defeat could plunge them into even greater turmoil – that’s how important Saturday’s game is for United.

Arsenal’s November record

For some reason or other, November is not very kind to Arsenal.

Deemed a ‘curse’ in some areas of the media, Wenger’s side often struggle to match the heights they set in other parts of the season during November, averaging 1.54 points per game under Wenger during the month.

His win rate during the month is a lowly 47%, which is ten per cent lower than his overall win percentage since taking charge in North London back in 1996.

Following a 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham at the start of the month, and with Hector Bellerin returning from international duty injured, as well as huge question marks over Alexis Sanchez’s fitness, the curse may well have struck again.

This should give United fans plenty of optimism going into Saturday’s game.