Arsenal could not have asked for a tougher test of their resolve to bounce back from a Champions League humiliation against Inter Milan than their premier league match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Arsene Wenger's team conceded three first-half goals in a crushing 3-0 defeat by Inter in their Group B opener at Highbury on Wednesday -- a shock result for a side whose biggest motivation is supplanting United as England's best.
United, reigning league champions and European Cup winners in 1999, had set the bar high the previous night with a 5-0 demolition of Panathinaikos in their opening Group E encounter at Old Trafford.
The irony for an Arsenal side that let United snatch the league crown from their grasp in the run-in last season is that Alex Ferguson's side should be their very next opponents.
Wenger, however, sees it as the perfect stage on which to show Arsenal's true colours.
"We lost. We cannot complain and cry and we have not to be too desperate. The important thing is the next game. We lost a game at home but there is still a long way to go. We can still qualify and we are still top of the (premier) league," he said.
"We have a big game on Sunday where we can show the character and spirit we have," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.
"We have to work on that so it does not have an effect on Sunday's game. Manchester United are on a high after winning last (Tuesday) night and we are on a low.
"We have four days to work on it. We want to go up there and show how strong and together we are."
Captain Patrick Vieira can not wait.
"We want to play straight away," he said. "When you have a game like this you want the next match to be the next day so you can prove to everybody it was just one of those days when everything went wrong."
MAKE AMENDS
Arsenal's German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann took the blame for Inter's goals and was determined to make amends at Old Trafford.
"I know it is down to the team to defend but it is my job to keep out the goals," said Lehmann, Arsenal's only major off-season signing to replace England's World Cup keeper David Seaman.
"I am very disappointed and know I can perform better than that. Therefore, I will have to work a bit more," he told the London Evening Standard on Thursday.
"But it is good to have another game a few days after a defeat like that and I am looking forward to playing at United."
Arsenal are leaders of the premier league with 13 points from five games. They are one point ahead of United and three in front of Manchester City and Chelsea, also unbeaten and with a game in hand.
On the plus side for Wenger is that he can pick his team from a fully fit squad, whereas Ferguson has a number of injury concerns.
Captain Roy Keane, who was nursing an ankle injury and remained on the bench in the Champions League game, is expected to be back.
Defender John O'Shea, midfielder Nicky Butt and forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all came off during Tuesday's match after minor knocks but should also be fit.
Paul Scholes, who has not played for three weeks because of a hernia problem, is hoping to avoid surgery and return to fitness quickly but is highly unlikely to appear on Sunday.
Brazil's Kleberson, who dislocated his shoulder, and defender Wes Brown (knee) are still out.
United and Arsenal have met once already in the traditional season-opening Community Shield match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff six weeks ago. United won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
