Henry left on bench

Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry was left on the bench by Arsene Wenger for this afternoon’s clash with Manchester United.

In a surprise move, Wenger opted to leave out his talisman, preferring Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor up front in a Gunners side again lacking Sol Campbell.

Alex Ferguson settled his own striking dilemma by handing Ruud van Nistelrooy a starting berth ahead of Louis Saha, who was left on the bench as United looked for a ninth successive Barclays Premiership win to close back to within seven points of Chelsea.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Ronaldo, O’Shea, Giggs, Park, Rooney, van Nistelrooy. Subs: Howard, Evra, Brown, Saha, Pique.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Eboue, Senderos, Toure, Flamini, Hleb, Fabregas, Silva, Pires, Van Persie, Adebayor. Subs: Poom, Diaby, Ljungberg, Henry, Djourou.

Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire)