Kevin Nolan has insisted that Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney hit the nail on the head with his brutal assessment of Arsenal under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal have reached the Champions League final in the 2025-26 campaign and Mikel Arteta’s men are also challenging for the Premier League title.
The Gunners are top of the Premier League table and are five points clear of second-place Manchester City and 14 points ahead of third-place Manchester United.
However, Pep Guardiola’s men have a Premier League match in hand and can narrow the Gunners’ lead to two points going into the final two league fixtures.
Pick your FAVOURITE match from the 2025/26 season…
Which game was the best? Is there one you will remember for years to come? What meant most to you?
Kevin Nolan thinks Wayne Rooney was right about his Man Utd vs Arsenal claim in the 2025-26 campaign
Theo Walcott went as far as to ask Wayne Rooney if he felt that Manchester United’s famed 2007-08 team could “compete” with Arsenal’s 2025-26 title-challenging side.
United legend Rooney didn’t need to think twice and the Red Devils’ all-time leading scorer hit back with a brutal response to ex-Arsenal and England star Theo Walcott.
“Yeah, we’d batter them,” he said in January, as per BBC Sport.
Kevin Nolan linked up with Sam Allardyce once again and he told the former West Ham and Bolton Wanderers manager that Rooney was spot on with his assessment.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, he said: “Yeah, but I’m telling you now, that if Man United, and I think Wayne Rooney said it not so long ago, didn’t he?
“He said, I would use it against this Arsenal side. And he said, we’d beat them 5-0.
“And I genuinely believe that would be [the case], with [Rooney’s] Man United team and [the] Arsenal team of then [the ‘Invincibles’], that would be the case.
“I don’t think when you look back there, that there’d be many players in this Arsenal team now we would get into that team.”
🎤 What do you want to hear from Michael Carrick in his end of season speech to fans after the final home game?
Kevin Nolan throws a reality check to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side with the Man Utd 2007-08 and the Gunners’ Invincibles teams
Nolan and ‘Big’ Sam felt that either Arsenal’s famed ‘Invincibles’ side or the Rooney-starring Man Utd 2007-08 team would hit a 100-point total in the current format.
“If the Invincibles were now, and Man United was now, they’d be doing it year in, year out, because they were that good,” Nolan said.
Sam Allardyce added: “They’d be 100 points?”
Responding to Allardyce, Nolan said: “Yeah.”
Arsenal will play Burnley and Crystal Palace in their final two Premier League matches ahead of the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
