London: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has refused to rule out Nemanja Matic for their Premier League clash against Arsenal, saying the midfielder will travel with the squad to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Matic, who arrived at Old Trafford from Chelsea at the start of the season, was substituted after 55 minutes of United’s 4-2 win at Watford in mid-week with Mourinho saying the Serbia international had a muscular problem.

The manager remains unsure on whether Matic will be able to make his 15th consecutive league start for United as they continue to chase league leaders Manchester City, who are eight points clear at the top.

“I don’t know if he can play,” Mourinho told a news conference on Friday. “He’s travelling with the team, he’s going to try and hopefully he can, but I cannot guarantee he is ready.”

Mourinho has yet to win an away game against a fellow top six rival since taking charge at Old Trafford, with United’s seven games at Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur yielding three points and one goal.

When asked if Saturday’s fixture was a must win to keep the title race alive, he replied: ”I tell my players just to think about the game. It doesn’t matter what happened before or what happens afterwards.

”We don’t think about how many points ahead of them we are or how many points ahead the leaders are.

“It will be tough enough against Arsenal so we will focus totally on this game.”

Arsene Wenger’s side, fourth in the league and four points behind second-placed United, have won all their seven league games at home this season, scoring 20 goals and conceding four. “When we have the ball, we are going to attack with 11 players because even the goalkeeper needs to know what to do when we have the ball,” Mourinho added. “When Arsenal has the ball, we are going to defend with 11 players.” Mourinho confirmed defenders Eric Bailly and Phil Jones are not available for selection after missing their last three league matches through injury.

Origins of a blood feud

The antics of the two sworn enemies on the touchline will take up as much attention as the actual match.

It was ever thus when Arsenal boss and United manager Mourinho lock horns.

The acrimony between Wenger and Mourinho stretches back to the arrival of the Portuguese coach in England 13 years ago. Verbal volleys have been traded time and again, with the enmity once boiling over into a memorable mid-match bout of shoving.

Even now, with Wenger 68, and Mourinho 54, neither boss seems ready to act their age.

Wenger labelled a ‘voyeur’

When Mourinho joined Chelsea in 2004, his brash personality didn’t take long to ruffle Wenger, who as one of the game’s established force, didn’t take kindly to being threatened by the young upstart.

While Mourinho adopted a deferential attitude around Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, there would be no such respect shown to Wenger.

When Wenger took a shot at Chelsea by claiming they might have lost belief after a couple of poor results in 2005-06 season, Mourinho went on the offensive with a memorable, if unkind, description of the Arsenal manager.

“I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people,” he said.

“There are some guys who, when they are at home, they have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks and speaks and speaks about Chelsea.”

The saying goes that opposites attract, but the contrast between the urbane Wenger and the spiky Mourinho couldn’t be more obvious and neither has been willing to end the cold war.

Agencies