Arteta wary of revitalised Man United against 'far from perfect' Arsenal

LONDON, Jan 23 : Arsenal welcomed the return of Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie to training ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester United but manager Mikel Arteta flagged concerns over their opponents' renewed intensity under Michael Carrick.

United beat second-placed Manchester City 2-0 last weekend under the guidance of interim manager Carrick, extending Arsenal's lead at the top of the table to seven points.

Arteta acknowledged the challenge posed by United compared to Arsenal's 1-0 victory in their August meeting.

"Yes, with Michael coming in it's going to bring new ideas, the intensity rises up, you could see in the Manchester derby with their behaviour and the game that they played," Arteta told reporters on Friday.

"We expect a tough match but we will adapt to that for sure, we are at home, and we know how important that is going to be for us."

Arteta was unsure whether Calafiori, out since last month with a muscle injury, and Hincapie, who suffered a groin injury earlier this month, will be ready to join Arsenal's defence this weekend after returning to training on Friday.

"We still have another training session, so we'll see tomorrow after that," he said.

Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres are competing for a place in the starting lineup after both forwards impressed in Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League win against Inter Milan. Jesus scored twice, while substitute Gyokeres also found the net.

"We were waiting for that with the amount of games that are coming up, and they are all going to have opportunities and minutes, so great to have them back and especially to have them in good form," he said.

The manager added that forward Kai Havertz is nearing full recovery, leaving winger Max Dowman as the sole player