Manchester United defender Chris Smalling admits their Barclays Premiership match with Arsenal on Sunday is ‘a massive clash’.

United come into the game eight points adrift of league leaders Arsenal, currently sitting in eighth place on the table with 17 points.

Smalling, though, says it is still early days and his side are taking confidence from the fact that they have gone on an eight game unbeaten run.

“We are going into the game with a lot of confidence,” said Smalling.

“We drew with Real Sociedad in the week, but we had a lot of chances to win the game and I think we have gained a lot of confidence from our run of late.

“We are playing at Old Trafford and really looking forward to it. I don't think there are any must-win games at this stage, but it is still obviously a massive game.

“We are at home and we have to be the favourites to win. We have to take the game to them and show that we are the team that wants to win and close the gap.

“We will look at the videos and see what they are doing well. As a defence, we will then work on things to minimise their impact but we won't think about it too much.

“As a whole team, they are playing very well. We will find out their negatives and weaknesses, then try to punish them.”