UNITED V ARSENAL United must come out firing against Gunners

IT’S time for Jose Mourinho to take the handbrake off, to meet fire with fire when Arsenal visit Old Trafford tonight.

These fixtures have produced some Premier League classics down the years, often in United’s favour, and the best route to another much-needed three points against the Gunners might be to go toe-to-toe with them.

Watching Arsenal’s thrilling evisceration of Tottenham in Sunday’s North London derby will have set hearts fluttering at Old Trafford.

But as Mourinho’s defensive injury crisis mounts, the United boss should instead throw the shackles off. Meet Arsenal head-on, match their fullblooded start and get Old Trafford on its feet.

Just like United did at the Emirates 12 months ago when they went 2-0 up inside six minutes.

There is little Mourinho can do defensively other than cross his fingers and hope he has enough fit defenders to try and field a more experienced backline than he managed against Southampton at St Mary’s.

If United are significantly weakened again at the back and invite an Arsenal side buoyed by their derby day heroics on to them, the results could be disastrous.

Instead, the time might have come for Mourinho to let his most attacking United side off the leash.

It’s not the sort of approach we usually associate with the Old Trafford boss, but the Reds have produced attacking intent recently when they’ve found themselves cornered, coming back in games against Newcastle, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Juventus and Southampton.

Rather than waiting for Arsenal to take the lead before turning on the afterburners, United should start at full throttle.

They played their part in a thrillingly open game at the Emirates Stadium last season when beating Arsenal 3-1 and attack has often been the best form of defence against the Gunners in the Premier League era.

While Arsenal looked exciting going forward against Tottenham, the defensive deficiencies that characterised the final years of the Arsene Wenger era are still there, lurking below the surface.

These can be exploited by United if they take the proactive approach, driving Arsenal back towards their own goal.

Much of this game plan rests on the fitness of Marcus Rashford. He was one of the few bright spots of the 2-2 draw at Southampton on Saturday, providing the assists for both of United’s goals, and his pace could significantly unsettle Shkodran Mustafi and Socratis Papastathopoulos if he can isolate them.

If Rashford is fit then lining him up in a front three alongside Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial could be the way forward for Mourinho. Forget the defensive issues and instead focus on how you can hurt the opposition.

Providing a supply line from midfield will be crucial as well. Paul Pogba may have been castigated for elements of his performance at St Mary’s on Saturday, but he was United’s only creative presence in midfield.

The Reds could show a greater commitment to attack by bringing Jesse Lingard into the side as well, easing the burden on Pogba and giving Arsenal more problems to consider.

It might leave United more susceptible to Arsenal’s counter attacks, but with a weakened defence it will take a significant effort to keep the Gunners out anyway.

Watching the Reds at Old Trafford last week was a frustrating experience, but they could make up for that if the handbrake comes off tonight.