‘They’re scaring me’ – Patrice Evra makes Arsenal admission after previously calling them ‘my babies,’ but he still backs Manchester United to beat the Gunners

Manchester United legend Patrice Evra has said Arsenal ‘scare’ him despite previously calling the team 'babies'.

Evra’s United face the Gunners on Super Sunday, with the two sides now in very different places to the Frenchman’s playing days.

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The five-time Premier League winner faced Arsenal 21 times with United, winning 13 of those games, losing just four, and such dominance led to a memorable comment back in 2019.

Speaking after a humbling loss to Sheffield United, Evra accused Arsenal of having a ‘weak mentality’ adding that he ‘used to call them my babies 10 years ago and they are still’.

That’s all changed now though, with the Gunners travelling to Old Trafford as likely favourites after a 100 per cent start to the season.

“This game is the beauty of the Premier League,” “This is a tough one to predict.

“I think United will have to play in a similar way like they did against Liverpool, in that survival mode, they may even have to get some luck.

“In that game against Liverpool, Klopp's side had many chances to win the game but let’s give credit to United. Now, they don't want to lose any games, they are putting their lives on the line to prevent conceding goals.

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“Arsenal are in great form, they are winning ugly games and that's what is scaring me. Against Fulham, it wasn't a good game but they won. Let's be clear, Arsenal fear Man United, there's a massive history between the two.”

“I used to call them 'our babies', now it's the other way round and we're looking more like the babies. This is going to be a tough one and talking with my heart I'll say United, but anything can happen.”

Among Evra’s successes against Arsenal, one game stands out more than any other.

During the 2011/12 season he played in an 8-2 win at Old Trafford, stunning the Premier League.

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Evra still remembers the game well and how he even turned Arsene Wenger’s mind games back the other way.

“When we beat Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford, that was some game,” he said.

“I know for a fact that before the match, Arsene Wenger showed to all the players my interview from after we beat them in the Champions League, when I said, ‘they looked like eleven babies’, and he put it on the board.

“I remember some of their players saying in interviews that they are going to show me what they are really made of and they are not babies, and then we beat them 8-2.

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“I was talking with my heart, but I respect Arsenal so much. They were the first team I saw live in the Premier League, I went to watch Thierry Henry when they were invincible.

“I will never disrespect their fans, but before a game against them people would say: ‘OK Patrice, come one, you need to get motivated’ and I was like: ‘Relax, we are going to beat Arsenal.’ It was like a feeling, I knew we were going to beat them and I had such a good record against them. It wasn't disrespect.

“I remember the weather was nice and the game started fast. We were just in destruction mode. That was the philosophy of Sir Alex Ferguson when we played Arsenal, he would say: ‘Don't try to play against them, because they will beat you, possession, quality, they're going to beat you. But I want to make sure they feel every tackle, every challenge, I want them to feel that.’ That's what we did.

“We would play really strong against them and after when we went forward we were killers. The counter attack in the Champions League, with Ji-sung Park, [Wayne] Rooney and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, that was our philosophy when we played against Arsenal.”