Ian Wright excited to see Nuno Tavares’ duel against Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Arsenal legend Ian Wright is excited to see how Nuno Tavares fares against Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka in this evening’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

Tavares joined the Gunners from Benfica over the summer, and he has since made a strong impression from left-back.

The Portuguese was initially touted as a back-up option to Kieran Tierney, but manager Mikel Arteta has recently picked him over the Scot for the league games.

Tierney’s fitness was highlighted as a potential reason. However, it is now clear that Arteta considers Tavares as a strong competitor to the 24-year-old for the position.

Ahead of today’s game against United, Wright is looking forward to the performance of Tavares against Wan-Bissaka, having caught the eye with his attacking style of play.

He said on Wrighty’s House Podcast: “We’ve now got a player now where even if we wanted to play Kieran Tierney on the left side of a three we could, then you could play Tavares still there.”

“Tavares can do anything because he’s chaos. He can go left, he can go right and I’m looking forward to seeing him up against Wan-Bissaka.”

Our view:

Tavares recently made a defensive blunder against Liverpool with a poor back pass to gift a goal. He had a couple of similar moments in the 4-0 defeat, but Arteta stuck by him.

The Portuguese made amends with an assist in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United. While his shots were wayward in the first half, he made his mark with a goal contribution.

He appears likely to continue at left-back at Old Trafford. It should be a big challenge for the 21-year-old, who looked nervous and vulnerable in his previous away trip at Anfield.

Tavares has shown glimpses of his quality with his dribbling and direct running in the final third, but will need to be vigilant in his own half as United will look to test his defensive resolve.

Elsewhere, Wan-Bissaka has proved that he is one of the best tacklers in the Premier League. Tavares will have to be quick with his decision-making to outwit the talented right-back.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

Read: How Arsenal could line up (4-4-2) against Manchester United.