Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday night, ending a 13-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. United, however, will have a spring in their step after holding Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in the Premier League last week.
The Red Devils have had longer to prepare for this weekend's heavyweight bout, so Mikel Arteta will be relying on the likes of Sterling to fire his side to glory. The England international has, in fact, posted a pre-match graphic preview of the United fixture to his Instagram story.
Historically, this suggests that he'll be involved in some capacity. Jorginho has also done the same, hinting that he too will start. One player who will be desperate to feature is Martin Odegaard, who has struggled to impress in the absence of Bukayo Saka.
Speaking to reporters on Friday ahead of the tie, Arteta was quizzed on his captain's drop in form. The Arsenal boss said: "Because there are moments sometimes, probably sustaining and again when you go to probability and when you go to samples, sustaining an attacking midfielder scoring 15 goals like he did two years ago it doesn’t happen because it hasn’t happened in 50 years.
"Even they’re aware of that, on the other side of the coin. So he’s trying, he’s trying very high, he had some big chances. Missed some opportunities, just help him and make sure he is comfortable enough to take the shot when he needs to do that because he’s so good at it."
On Odegaard's relationship with Saka, Arteta added: "It can be an element of that, obviously. He’s come from an injury and the first maybe week or two you have that extra energy and then you play every three days.
"He was ill for over a week you know, so that plays a part. There are a lot of circumstances but it is inevitable to think when you have such a chemistry with that player and you’re not next to each other that you’re going to notice something that is different."
With that being said, Arteta will be hoping Odegaard, with help from Sterling and Jorginho, can lead Arsenal to victory. While a few players have posted pre-match previews of the United game to their Instagram stories, it does not necessarily mean they will definitely start or, at the very least, play.
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