The ridiculously weak Manchester United starting XIs that have beaten Arsenal at Old Trafford

Teams emerge from the Old Trafford tunnel to the sound of This Is The One by The Stone Roses, an apt anthem for Arsenal and their supporters who feel each visit to Manchester United's home will finally be the one that ends their long wait for a league victory there.

August 2006 was the date of their last Premier League win at United, thanks to Emmanuel Adebayor's late goal. The first phase of this drought is perfectly explicable given they were up against a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired team who won three straight league titles and reached three Champions League finals (the third without Ronaldo).

Their inability to beat United on their own patch in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era is more damning though, and Arsenal have served up some truly pusillanimous performances that raised the spectre of an unshakable mental block.

There are a myriad of tactical explanations and themes to pick out of each individual match, but one curious thread in the fixture's recent history is how often United have vanquished Arsenal while severely understrength. Monday's game could throw up a similar scenario with Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford all injury doubts.

As history tells us, this might not be a reason for Arsenal fans to get too excited.

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 0 - FA Cup quarter-final, March 2011

United starting XI: Van der Sar; Brown, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Rafael, O'Shea, Gibson, Fabio; Rooney, Hernandez.

We are cheating a tad here because this was not league game and Arsenal have since won at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. However, this team and game demands inclusion.

Were it an episode of Friends, it would certainly be called The One Where Seven Defenders Started and that frankly hideous midfield proved enough to send Arsenal out of their third competition in quick succession.

Going right back to the 2004 FA Cup semi-final, when Darren Fletcher did the job, Ferguson favoured an energetic midfield dog against Arsenal to disrupt their rhythmic passing. Phil Neville did it in the league game that broke Arsenal's long unbeaten run and Ferguson took the strategy to extremities in this meeting, with Rafael and Fabio wide raiders and O'Shea and Gibson breaking up play.

Arsenal had more possession and 11 shots on target, but goals from Fabio and Rooney proved enough against an Arsenal side featuring Good Samir Nasri, Good Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin (before he became intimately acquainted with every patisserie in London).

"We now have the advantage of being able to recover physically and mentally as we only have the league to focus on," Wenger said. They won one of their next five as a promising season unravelled.

Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2 - Premier League, August 2011

United starting XI: De Gea; Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra; Nani, Anderson, Cleverley, Young; Rooney, Welbeck.

Contrary to popular opinion, this defeat did not cause lasting hurt among Arsenal fans who were able to compartmentalise events: the transfer window loomed over the fixture, there was an injury crisis and youngsters like Carl Jenkinson and Francis Coquelin were thrown to the wolves. Heavy defeats at Chelsea and Liverpool a few seasons later were actually far more traumatic.

Arsenal had a weakened team on the pitch, but it has been forgotten what an average XI United started with. There was no Nemanja Vidic or Rio Ferdinand, Anderson was just about the embark on a downward spiral, Cleverley made just his third league start for United and a raw Welbeck started up front.

In truth, this was something of a freakish game with United scoring three goals from outside the penalty area, plus a penalty and an Arsenal sending off. Arsenal also had eight shots on target themselves. Until last season's 2-2 draw, this was actually the only time Arsenal scored more than one goal in a Premier League game at Old Trafford.

Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0 - Premier League, November 2013

United starting XI: De Gea; Smalling, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Jones, Carrick, Kagawa; Rooney, Van Persie.

Not the worst team, but not one bursting with quality either. Rooney and Van Persie were not the players they were the previous season, Smalling was out of position at right-back, Jones was in midfield and Vidic went off at half-time with an injury.

Then we get to the elephant in the room: David Moyes was in the United dugout and West Brom and Southampton had already got something for Old Trafford that season. It is that wider context that delivers this game on to this list.

Arsenal were flying that autumn, and even after this loss they remained two points clear at the top of the league and five points clear of United. Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla were all on the pitch at various points, but 60 percent possession could only be converted to two shots on target. Bacary Sagna flashed two brilliant crosses across the six-yard box late on, but Arsenal were relying on Nicklas Bendtner to get on the end of them and van Persie's first-half header passed without reply.

Arsenal were affected by illness in the camp with Per Mertesacker missing out. He would probably have been stood precisely where van Persie met the corner, leaving Wenger to curse his fortune.

Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2 - Premier League, February 2016

United starting XI: De Gea; Varela, Carrick, Blind, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Herrera; Lingard, Mata, Depay; Rashford.

The day the spell was broken as it became perfectly clear that Wenger would never guide Arsenal to another league title.

After beating leaders Leicester with a last-gasp goal, Arsenal had the chance to close the gap to two points against Louis Van Gaal's lifeless United team who had no defenders available. Carrick and Blind dropped back from midfield; Guillermo Varela started at right-back; Timothy Fosu-Mensah replaced Rojo after 55 minutes while James Weir was their final substitute in stoppage time. To say nothing of the game's main story - 18-year-old Marcus Rashford making his debut up front.

Rashford had just two touches in the Arsenal penalty area in the first 35 minutes of the game. Both shots, both goals. Despite the fact Arsenal had Ramsey, Ozil, Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott in their team they never really clicked as a unit. Welbeck pulled one back before half-time, before a Juan Mata goal restored the two-goal cushion. Ozil scored in the 69th minute, but Arsenal mustered just one shot on target thereafter when they should have been laying siege to the United goal.

Graeme Souness tore into Arsenal post-match, saying: "It’s tailor-made for a proper team to come here and do a number on a very under-strength Manchester United, and they didn’t.

"They have to go to Tottenham, they have to go to Barcelona. By March 16, they could be out of all competitions. This is an Arsenal team that you were saying month ago were a real team.

"Arsene Wenger must be tearing his hair out. There’s a word I want to use, but I can’t, which describes a lack of something real players have."

Arsenal's league challenge fizzled out, and - despite some brighter interludes over the following two years - this game marked the beginning of the end of Wenger's reign.