Why Man United, Liverpool-Arsenal, Milan Derby Will Provide Halloween Chills

Ah, Halloween. The season of spooky mischief and relentless candy-driven aggression. A holiday of dark creativity where costumes adorn every street just like one of the witches in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth said — “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes…” — this is a time for deviously good fun. It’s also a time to cuddle up in the comfort of your own home and watch scary movies. I love being scared. It’s a feeling that is an alarming reminder to the soul, evoking my senses and telling me once again that I am indeed alive. Horror movies, therefore, to me — are therapeutic. Halloween, just like Clare Dunphy said in Modern Family, is “MY HOLIDAY” and I wouldn’t have it any other way. From a footballing perspective, this weekend’s action during Halloween also brings some eerie drama as some of the themes that are currently affecting certain clubs will be highlighted this weekend. And just like Linus skipped trick-or-treating in order to wait for the mythical Great Pumpkin in the 1966 classic It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, we will also wait and hope for some unsettling drama. Here are some of the most notable matches for the weekend and, in the spirit of the holiday, I have given each fixture a Halloween theme with a horror movie twist. Enjoy and most importantly, Happy Halloween. There is a creepy desperation with Manchester United right now, and it permeates throughout the club, not just because of the results, but due to the management, ownership and personnel. After losing 3-0 to Bournemouth, it is now going through a seven-match winless run and has not won in the Premier League since August 30th (3-2 against Ipswich Town). United is a club with incredibly important history but one that cannot escape the ghosts of the past. Old Trafford is known as the Theatre of Dreams, but right now, it feels more like A Nightmare on Elm Street. Man United fans keep being chased and stalked by an ownership that won’t let them move on with their lives. Michael Carrick needs a win, otherwise his tenure is effectively over. However, I think not even this fixture can save him from the inevitable. As for Chelsea, a club which has spent a tremendous amount of money (more than a billion dollars in the last few seasons) to build a squad that is both dynamic and full of power (Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer) is very much Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where Xabi Alonso’s creation is made up of an assembly of offensively-friendly parts but together, it still needs discipline — especially now that the aforementioned Palmer is suspended due to the red card he earned against Tottenham Hotspur. That particular loss, coupled with the one against Liverpool in the fourth round of the League Cup, showed that Chelsea’s creation needs self-control. It needs to be stronger defensively if it has any hope of Champions League football this season. And to be honest, there are no excuses because the Blues have only domestic football to worry about. Otherwise, Chelsea’s project, just like the creature, will eventually vanish and fail once again from looking to earn European football. This is a very important fixture for both sides. There is a powerful energy that comes from Anfield whenever Arsenal visits Liverpool’s stadium. In fact, Arsenal’s win rate at this ground is the worst in club history as the Gunners have only won six times in the last 34 trips. So for Arsenal, very much like Jordan Peele’s 2017 psychological masterpiece Get Out (starring Daniel Kaluuya, who happens to be a diehard, lifelong Arsenal fan), Mikel Arteta’s side has to withstand the pressures of a very eerie and hostile environment and escape Anfield with three points. As for Liverpool, using Peele’s 2019 follow-up Us where scary doppelgangers terrorized a family, I am beginning to think that Liverpool’s team has more than one face and what was first thought as an inconsistent side under new manager Andoni Iraola. It is now more confident where Alexander Isak is finally delivering on a consistent basis. The Swedish striker has six league goals from his last six matches. The question will be, can he do it against Arsenal’s strong defensive unit? There are recent thoughts that Liverpool is indeed the real deal under Iraola and a genuine title contender. This is a great test to show if this sentiment carries weight. A historic match inside an iconic stadium that will soon say goodbye in the next few years as news this week – ahead of this weekend’s Milan derby – stated that the San Siro will be demolished during the 2031-32 season and make way for the 71,500-seated Generali stadium, set to begin construction next year. But that will be then and this is now as the Derby della Madonnina (as the Milan derby is known) is a royal match, a glorious classic filled with Halloween-esque motives as the city itself, an ancient place with ghosts from the past, is rich with gothic identity centered around the Duomo di Milano. Italian Gothic horror, therefore — famous in the ‘50s and ’60s — takes the role of protagonist, so do yourself a favor and watch Mario Bava’s classic Italian masterpiece Black Sunday, where a vengeful executed witch returns from the dead to avenge her look-alike descendant. And that’s how I see this match on Saturday as Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan, seven points behind league leader Inter, has to do everything in its power to get closer to its local adversary and avenge the defending champion Inter. In terms of personnel, USMNT star whiner Christian Pulisic (newly signed to an extension through 2031) and Luka Modrić should be available for this game whilst Inter continue to deliver with the absence of Lautaro Martínez due to a hamstring injury. The blue of Inter and red of Milan contrast with an eerie albeit colorful fog that perfectly encapsulates the animosity they have for each other. Let’s see how it all comes together on the scariest night of the year. ‘Tis the season for scary themes and haunting results. Let’s take it all in.