Manchester United face Arsenal on Wednesday in the first fixture between the two sides without Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger since 1986.

Arsenal are very much in the ascendancy at the moment after their 4-2 derby win over Tottenham while United continue to disappoint, labouring to a 2-2 draw away at Southampton.

Current managers Unai Emery and Jose Mourinho will be looking to reignite what was once a bitter rivalry and the most anticipated fixture of the domestic calendar.

The two coaches are familiar with each other having met in La Liga with Mourinho in charge of Real Madrid and Emery at Valencia followed by Sevilla.

This means that Emery has experienced the pre-match shenanigans of Mourinho before.

Emery has seen this side of Mourinho before

Mourinho was as guarded as ever in his latest press conference, refusing to reveal any injury updates to Manchester United's official television channel, MUTV.

"No. I don’t want to update you, I would like Arsenal TV to make the same questions, but they don’t, they hide everything from the inside, so why should I answer to you so why should I give anything to you."

Mourinho went on to devalue the 19-match unbeaten streak that Emery's Arsenal have managed to achieve, claiming the Europa League has helped significantly.

'When you play Europa League you normally play with second choices and you can give a good rest to your [first team] players compared to those in the Champions League, where we have to play in the maximum of our potential.

"Plus the confidence of the good results because when you play Europa you have good results because you win easily."

Emery will no doubt brush off these remarks as the Spaniard has had to deal with Mourinho's jibes when he was Valencia boss.

In 2010, after Real Madrid had narrowly beaten Valencia 1-0, Mourinho famously waved a piece of paper with a listen of mistakes he believed the referee had made during the game - 13 to be exact.

Emery's reponse proved that he was not at all impressed with Mourinho's behaviour.

"We at Valencia have good reason to make a public complaint against all the mistakes that have led to us losing, but we do not," said Emery."The position of Mourinho is that of a crybaby."

The game on Wednesday is certainly an interesting prospect as Jose Mourinho and Unai Emery write another chapter in their reemerging rivalry.