Mourinho (left) and Wenger (Shaun Botterill &Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

THE international break threw up a few more stories than normal with Gareth Southgate on the verge of becoming the next England manager and England captain Wayne Rooney copying Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as a wedding crasher.

It’s going to need a Premier League blockbuster to regain our attention and we certainly have that at Old Trafford tomorrow as PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKLY looks at Manchester United versus Arsenal.

Who needs three points more – Mourinho or Wenger?

MATCHES between Manchester United and Arsenal have always had an edge as it pits the cock-sure Londoners against the kings of northern swagger. For a period between 1997 and 2004, fixtures between the two were season-defining. Whoever came out on top finished as Champions, with United winning five titles in that period to the Gunners’ three.

The games showcased the very best of English football – frantic and furious, full of tackles and strong play mixed in with excellent football, no little flair and plenty of controversy.

That has probably been lost somewhat in the last decade as first Arsenal and now United have fallen away from the top of the Premier League. But the match will resume huge prominence tomorrow because of one man – Jose Mourinho.

That’s because his enmity towards Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has simmered away for the 12 years since the Portuguese first came to England. And in that time, he has never suffered defeat to Wenger’s side. With Mourinho struggling to impose his will at Old Trafford, he can ill afford to lose his Indian sign over Arsenal to avoid even more questions about his management methods.

Mourinho has been moody and surly at United. He has publicly criticised players. He has been fined for talking about referees. He has been sent to the stands and banned from the touchline. He has even criticised his life stuck in a Manchester hotel. And these first few months should have been the honeymoon period!

United are currently bottom of the top six, eight points off the top and pundits are openly wondering if Mourinho’s managerial tactics have been overtaken by the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino. That’s why he needs a grandstand victory to show everybody that he still clearly has the magic touch.

But if it’s a big game for United and Mourinho, it’s exactly the same scenario for Arsene Wenger. Arsenal sit only two points behind leaders Liverpool in fourth place and there have been good signs this season. But this is their first visit to a title rival and it’s in these types of matches that the Gunners have come up short, so often in the last 12 years.

Back in February, they went to Old Trafford to face Louis van Gaal’s short of confidence and short of players United, and lost 3-2 in embarrassing fashion. It was a pivotal defeat as Leicester got away from them and they never recovered.

Arsenal never lost to United in each of the three seasons they won the league under Wenger, but they have now gone ten years since they last returned from Old Trafford with three points, so that’s why this fixture matters.

Throw in Arsenal’s awful record in November when they have averaged just 1.59 points per game since the Frenchman took charge 20 years ago and it shows why so much is at stake for the Gunners. Victory at Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United really would be a powerful statement of intent.

Player of the Day: Alexis Sanchez

THE cast list at Old Trafford will be an impressive one with star turns like Paul Pogba, David De Gea and Mesut Ozil. But perhaps the most important will be Alexis Sanchez. There has been an added dynamism to Arsenal’s play since the Chilean was moved from out wide to up front.

His street footballer mentality is exciting to watch as he plays as if his life depends on it, harrying defenders and then being able to produce something special when he wins the ball back. In that respect, he is carrying on the South American mould established by Carlos Tevez and Luis Suarez, who performed that role brilliantly when they were in the Premier League.

It was not ideal that Sanchez played 85 minutes for Chile on Tuesday night having been a major doubt with a hamstring injury. But he did and scored twice in the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay, showing how important he is for club and country. Yet he only arrived back in the UK yesterday, and Arsenal are wary about losing him to injury, having seen that happen last season after his frequent trips back to South America.

(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Sanchez’s combinations with Ozil and Theo Walcott this season have given Arsenal a real threat going forward and Gunners fans would love to see that against a vulnerable United defence. But the last thing they would want would be the sight of their Chilean star limping off the field early on as his recent endeavours catch up with him.

It’s the fine balancing act that Wenger has to manage, and playing Sanchez from the start or not is the type of decision on which a match can be won or lost.

What should Liverpool do about Steven Gerrard?

THE start of the season could hardly have gone much better for Liverpool. They are top of the table, scoring goals for fun and the mood around the entire club is buoyant. But now an intriguing prospect has emerged in the shape of Steven Gerrard. The former Liverpool legend is ending his American adventure at LA Galaxy and is heading home and he is open to offers.

Is there space for him at Liverpool? Jurgen Klopp has always insisted there will be space for Gerrard at Anfield, but does he mean it? Should the German be wary of breaking the incredible roll that his team is on?

Gerrard’s days as a player at the top level are probably behind him and there was the huge fanfare of his departure in May 2015. But from Gerrard’s point of view, it would be special to come back into a winning dressing room and even if he only had a few cameo appearances from the bench, they would wipe away the memory of that 6-1 defeat at Stoke before he left for America.

If not as a player, what about as a coach? Gerrard could return and act as an inspirational figure, still in touch with the players who would remember his special feats and he could offer experience and guidance about playing in front of The Kop in those really big matches. It would also restore that ‘boot room’ tradition so loved by generations of Liverpool fans.

Yet, for all his friendly demeanour and warm personality, perhaps this is where Klopp needs to be cold hearted. The German might think that as big a legend as Gerrard was, he belongs to Liverpool’s past and that to achieve what he wants this season, he needs to concentrate on this current crop of exciting players who look like they could achieve something special.