Marcus Rashford believes Arsenal are now one of the strongest teams in the Premier League as he looks forward to a "special" encounter against the Gunners on Wednesday night.
The England forward has fond memories of facing the north Londoners, having scored twice on his Premier League debut against the side who were then managed by Arsene Wenger in 2016.
United will be looking for their first Premier League win since November 3 when Unai Emery's men visit Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.
The sense of crisis is growing at United - eighth in the table, eight points behind Arsenal - with injury denying manager Jose Mourinho a host of defensive options and the Reds boss engaging in another strained interaction with the media on Tuesday.
Rashford, though, is in positive mood, recollecting the moment he announced himself as an 18-year-old with a two-goal Premier League debut against the Gunners at Old Trafford.
He does, however, acknowledge the threat his team faces from an Arsenal team on a 19-game unbeaten run.
“It’s a game that holds a special place for me, playing against Arsenal at Old Trafford,” the 21-year-old told the club's official website.
“But it’s almost a different Arsenal side now, they’re playing better football, they’re a more aggressive team and looking at them now, they’re one of the strongest teams in the league.
"We have to take all that into account and no matter what happens we have to try to get the three points.”
Arsenal head to Manchester buoyed by a 4-2 north London derby win over Tottenham which leaves them fourth in the table.
United stumbled again on Saturday, meanwhile, going two goals down at Southampton before fighting back to claim a draw.
Rashford, who provided assists for Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera, added: “It was disappointing and we paid the price for not starting how we should have started.
“We grew into the game, especially in the first half when we were creating chances and starting to play better football, but we can’t expect to start games in the way we did that one and get three points. We have to do better.”