Manchester United vs Arsenal: Per Mertesacker says Old Trafford victory is 'still in our heads'

Arsenal defender hopeful that the Gunners can continue their push for the title on Sunday

Per Mertesacker (GETTY IMAGES)

Per Mertesacker says Arsenal will use last season's FA Cup victory over Manchester United to give them confidence they can pick up a result at Old Trafford this weekend.

The World Cup winner also believes Sunday's match represents an opportunity to put their Champions League defeat to Barcelona behind them.

The Gunners beat United 2-1 on their own turf last term thanks to goals from Nacho Monreal and Danny Welbeck and maintained their ultimately successful run in the FA Cup.

Mertesacker told Arsenal.com: “Leicester City was a good game to make us believe we are still in it. You need to have little successes on the road. We go step by step, nothing else. We have a great chance on Sunday to do that again and show that we can compete for the title.

“It helps we beat United last year in the cup. I think that was a great experience for us and it is still in our heads sometime when you think about big games and Old Trafford. It is going to be an interesting game so let’s not forget the positives from Barcelona and go there and give our best with the same effort.”

Despite losing 2-0 to Barcelona on Tuesday, Mertesacker said their were positives to take from the game.

“We created some chances and [it’s pleasing] how we got out of the pressure,” he said. “We were doubted a lot but there is always something positive and we can take that from the game.

“We will go to Manchester United and we are in a good position - we don’t want to give that up. We have a great chance to focus back on the Premier League and forget what happened in the last 20 minutes [against Barcelona].

The match at Old Trafford kicks off at 2.05pm on Sunday.