Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp were notable absentees from the Arsenal line-up to face Manchester United in the FA Cup tie of the fifth round at Old Trafford.
Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp were notable absentees from the Arsenal line-up to face Manchester United in the FA Cup tie of the fifth round at Old Trafford.
Henry's omission from the Gunners starting line-up had been predicted and the French international was named among the visitors' replacements.
However, Bergkamp was not part of the squad at all with new England international Francis Jeffers and Sylvain Wiltord given the task of leading Arsenal's attack as they looked to avenge their 2-0 Premiership defeat at Old Trafford in December.
United also emerged victorious in the last FA Cup meeting between the teams, back in 1999 when Ryan Giggs' magnificent extra-time solo strike settled a thrilling semi-final replay at Villa Park.
Giggs overcame concerns about a calf injury to make the United side today but there was no place for Argentinian midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, who picked up a toe injury on international duty in midweek.
Scans have ruled out the possibility of a break but Veron was not fit enough to make the substitutes' bench today.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named in the vacant midfield berth while goalkeeper Fabien Barthez returned after a two-match absence with hip and thigh problems.
Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer. Subs: Ricardo, Phil Neville, Butt, Forlan, O'Shea.
Arsenal: Seaman, Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Parlour, Vieira, Edu, Pires, Jeffers, Wiltord. Subs: Warmuz, Henry, van Bronckhorst, Cygan, Toure.
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland)