Gunning for return to form
Arsenal, Manchester United clash in battle of giants
Posted: Thursday September 17, 1998 02:08 PM
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Bergkamp, a key player in Arsenal's campaign last season with 16 league goals and three cup goals, has admitted to suffering from post-World Cup burnout Ben Radford/Allsport |
LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal and Manchester United will cast disappointing European results aside Sunday as English soccer focus returns to a battle of the Premier League giants.
Arsene Wenger's F.A. Cup and League-double titlists had a 1-1 tie with Lens, while Manchester United surrendered a 2-0 advantage to slump to a 3-3 draw at home with Barcelona in Champions League openers Wednesday.
But Arsenal and Manchester United, which finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the league last season, will put all their resources into the clash at Highbury.
The teams have played once already this season, the Gunners winning the annual Charity Shield match 3-0 in August.
The Gunners, minus former captain Ian Wright -- who transferred to West Ham in the off-season -- have only one win and four ties in five league games.
The major concern for Wenger in has been the indifferent form of Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp, who has not scored a goal in the domestic competition since returning from the World Cup.
Bergkamp, a key player in Arsenal's campaign last season with 16 league goals and three cup goals, has admitted to suffering from post-World Cup burnout.
Manchester United is in fifth place in the standings with two wins and two ties from four games and has started to fire since star striker Dwight Yorke arrived from Aston Villa.
Yorke, a 12.6-million-pound (US$20 million) signing, has scored three goals in United's last two league games.
The sixth round kicks off with eight matches Saturday, with league-leading Aston Villa at third-place play Leeds United.
Villa, undefeated at the top of the Premier League standings with four wins and tie, fought back from two goals down to escape with a 3-2 win at home over Norway's Stromgodset in a UEFA Cup match Tuesday.
Villa trailed 2-1 after a goal in the 83rd minute and then got two goals in injury time from 18-year-old Darius Vassell to clinch the victory.
Despite his winning double, Vassell is almost certain to remain on the reserves bench against Leeds at Elland Road.
Leeds was forced to fight for a 1-0 win over Portugal's Maritimo in the UEFA Cup Tuesday but secured the first-leg result when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored in the 84th minute.
Former England international Robbie Fowler and 18-year-old sensation Michael Owen should be reunited as Liverpool's striker pairing against Charlton at Anfield.
Liverpool scored a 3-0 win over Kosice in the UEFA Cup Tuesday after an unexpected 2-1 loss to West Ham last weekend cost the Merseysiders the No. 1 spot in the Premier League standings.
Owen and Fowler, who has returned from a lengthy absence with a knee injury, combined for a goal in the UEFA Cup win and Owen, the leading scorer in the league with five goals, expects more to come.
"Robbie and I have 24 goals between us in 25 games and I see him as my ideal partner up front," Owen said.
Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne is slowly returning to form with Middlesbrough. Boro coach Bryan Robson said he expected Gascoigne to star in Saturday's match against Everton.
In other Premier League matches Saturday, Nottingham Forest is at home to West Ham, Coventry plays Newcastle, Wimbledon takes on Sheffield Wednesday, Derby meets Leicester and Southampton plays Tottenham.
In Division One matches Saturday, league-leading Huddersfield is home to Wolverhampton and No. 2 Birmingham is home to Grimsby. In other games: Barnsley vs. Crystal Palace; Bury vs. Tranmere; Crewe vs. Bolton; Ipswich vs. Bristol City; Port Vale vs. Portsmouth; Queens Park Rangers vs. Stockport; Sheffield United vs. Norwich; Sunderland vs. Oxford; Swindon vs. Watford.
On Sunday, Bradford plays at West Brom.
The only Premier League match Monday is at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea hosts Blackburn Rovers.
In Scotland, Rangers will be at home to Celtic in the Premier Division in the biggest game of the young Scottish season. Celtic edged out Rangers for the Scottish league title last season, ending
Rangers nine-season run on the trophy.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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