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9 mins: So far Arsenal have completely dominated four minutes, and United another four. Perhaps another shift now, as Saka is played down the right and wins a corner.

7 mins: United stay on the front foot. Garnacho has a couple of shots and both are deflected, the first back to a teammate for the move to continue, the second wide of goal.

5 mins: And suddenly United get a chance! Csaemiro’s through-ball doesn’t quite reach Hojland but as Arsenal try to pass it out of defence McTominay turns up to steal it and it runs back to Hojland, who has a free shot from the edge of the area. He completely fluffs it.

4 mins: The first shot of the day comes from Saka, but is straight at Onana. The ball has barely left the quarter of the pitch closest to United’s goal.

2 mins: A great first minute from Arsenal, which ends with them winning a corner but only because Trossard didn’t anticipate Saka’s cross and get there first.

1 min: Peeeeeep! Arsnel, in luminous yellow kit, kick off.

They’re out, hands have been shaken and preambles completed. A quick huddle – Arsenal are conducting theirs in an unusual location, just to the left of their penalty area – and it’s game on.

The players gather in the tunnel. Football imminent!

“Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. Hello! “I’d be much more concerned about Arsenal’s poor form at Old Trafford if I hadn’t spent all of April seeing Manchester United drive their home fans crazy. Trying and failing to spoon-feed a win to Liverpool, trailing (twice!) against Sheffield United, playing so poorly against Burnley that the 1-1 result can fairly be called an affront to Burnley, not Man U. I expect the Gunners to take decisive steps to address that shrinking goal difference between them and Manchester City.” That is the only sensible conclusion to be drawn from the teams’ recent performances. Football, happily, is still occasionally insensible, though.

Quarter of an hour before kick-off. The pitch empties of players as the players of both sides head in to receive their final instructions.

Talking of Manchester United and FA Cup finals: “45 years ago today (the day I was born), these two teams met in the ‘five-minute final’,” writes Graeme Thorn. “Arsenal will definitely need the same sort of result today, but maybe without all the stress of those last five minutes.”

Further reading:

Silverware ahoy! It’s now 2-0 in that game and with that United should be home and hosed. I saw Tottenham in their semi-final and they were absolutely rubbish, if not quite as rubbish as Leicester, though I am led to believe this was an anomaly.

Manchester United are currently competing in the women’s FA Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley, and have scored an absolute screamer to take the lead:

Mikel Arteta has a chat:

It’s always a big challenge [to win here]. A great place to come. We’re obviously playing for something massive and we need to prove that we can come to this stadium and deliver. They have a lot of individual quality and they can turn momentum in any action, and that’s a big quality to have. Today we have to earn the right to go into the last day with the option to win the Premier League. That’s the challenge, but the opportunity is huge. But to be favourites here you have to earn the right over many, many years – we haven’t done that.

Team sheets have been submitted, and the names in the frame are these:

Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Casemiro, Evans, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo, Amrabat, Diallo, McTominay, Garnacho, Hojlund. Subs: Bayindir, Eriksen, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collyer, Amass, Ogunneye, Wheatley.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Trossard. Subs: Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Kiwior, Jorginho, Vieira, Zinchenko.
Referee: Paul Tierney.

Hello world! It’s a big old game, this one, and it’s one the visitors have to win if this year’s title run-in, which just a few weeks ago was being spoken about as perhaps the best ever, is not to prematurely become a procession. There will be some nerves among their fans, and it’s true, Arsenal do have a dismal record at Old Trafford (last 16 league games: W1, D5, L10). But this Manchester United side are fairly dismal themselves, so that probably shouldn’t be too much of a worry. The Gunners have only lost one league game this calendar year, which suggests they are coping pretty well with the pressures of a title chase even if those three dropped points currently look likely to cost them the pot at the end of it all. Win this, though, and if Tottenham can just do them a favour on Tuesday it’s on again. Meanwhile if United win this they go level (on points, if way behind on goal difference) with Newcastle and Chelsea in sixth/seventh, so could yet rescue a poor season with a non-humiliating league position and, potentially, an FA Cup-shaped bonus. So, yes, it’s a big old game, this one. Welcome!

Kick-off: 4.30pm BST