A combination of poor form and major injury worries mean if anyone is going to win Saturday's showdown at the Emirates Stadium, most pundits feel it will be United.

Such an outcome would leave the Gunners four points adrift of the champions and even further behind pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool, neither of whom have been faced yet.

Little wonder the match is being viewed as make-or-break for Arsenal, who are looking to avoid a fifth successive season without the title, which would be the longest barren streak since Wenger's arrival in north London.

But Giggs is not convinced. Mindful United are not that much better off, even though they have a match in hand and have been to Anfield and Stamford Bridge, the veteran Welshman feels November is too early to start writing off any of the big four.

"When you look at the quality Arsenal have, I don't think we can finish off their title hopes on Saturday," said Giggs.

"They have got a few players out at the moment - but all four top teams, if they are there or thereabouts, are capable of going on a run. That has always been the case.

"I expect us all to be involved at the end. We are going to have losses of form and not get the results we want. Hopefully we have had our poor spell."

The poor spell effectively amounts to dropped points against Newcastle and Everton given the only other teams United have failed to overcome so far this season were Liverpool and Chelsea.

However, as they collected 13 points out of a possible 18 against their major rivals last term, those setbacks mean there is a bit of catching up to do.

"We are behind Chelsea and Liverpool so we really can't afford any more mistakes ourselves," said Giggs.

"We have to go there and try to win. We have not won at the Emirates, so it would be nice to do that."

United will head to the capital with an improper conduct charge hanging over Sir Alex Ferguson after his post-match confrontation with referee Mike Dean at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Ferguson was furious with Dean for failing to dismiss an already-booked Andy Turner for a foul on Michael Carrick and then award a penalty for an innocuous-looking challenge on Bernard Mendy by Rio Ferdinand, decisions that contributed to a tense end to a 4-3 win.

Having served a two-match touchline ban for a finger-jabbing rant at Mark Clattenburg following defeat at Bolton last season, Ferguson knows what is coming if he is found guilty.

However, mindful he escaped punishment when facing a similar charge for a verbal attack on Martin Atkinson following the FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth, he seems likely to contest the charge, a stance that would have to be declared by November 19.

Ferguson had the weekend, not Dean in mind when he named his side to face Celtic on Wednesday night.

The United boss left Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra on the bench so, while all three were eventually needed, their places are guaranteed, as is Edwin van der Sar's, who was rested, and captain Gary Neville provided he overcomes the 'niggle' which kept him behind in Manchester this week as well.

It means Ferguson's major dilemma comes in midfield, where he must decide which three players will operate alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Giggs comes into the reckoning, although given he was on the field for the entire 90 minutes against Celtic, scoring the precious equaliser near the end, his contribution is more likely to come from the bench.

It is not a situation Giggs' competitive instincts are entirely comfortable with. However, as he will celebrate his 35th birthday later this month, it is a testament to his outstanding abilities that he is considered at all.

"I am proud I still have a part to play," he said.

"It is all about adapting, although it helps when you have got good players around you."

Wednesday night's effort was Giggs' 26th European goal for United in his 121st appearance.

It is a measure of how long he has been at the club that his continental career spanned a couple of UEFA Cup campaigns, both of which ended early.

Overall, he needs to find the net just four more times to become only the ninth United player to reach 150.