Buy Arsenal vs Manchester United tickets for the 2026/27 Season, with kickoff scheduled for Saturday 19 December 2026 at 17:00 at the Emirates Stadium in north London. This is the reigning champions against the side that finished third behind them, four days before Christmas, in the fixture Arsenal price at the very top of their category structure alongside the north London derby.
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The context has shifted since the last time these two met in December. Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the league title in 2025/26, United finished third and both clubs are in the Champions League this season. A fixture that spent a decade being sold on history alone is now a meeting of two of the top three from last May, which is why Arsenal tickets for this date carry one of the highest entry points on the entire home calendar.
Supply is the other half of the story. The Emirates holds roughly 60,700 and the overwhelming majority of that is committed to season ticket holders and members before a single seat reaches general sale. For a Category A fixture against United, what reaches the open market is small, late and expensive.
Arsenal run a five-band pricing structure, from Category C at the bottom through B, B+ and A+ up to Category A. United sit in Category A, the band reserved for the derby and the visits of Liverpool, Manchester City and United themselves. That is a deliberate commercial signal: the club expects this to be among the hardest home dates of the season to get into.
United's travelling support does not thin out for a bad season, and the club has been among the most consistently followed away sides in England for three decades. Anyone watching Manchester United tickets across a campaign will know the away allocation is spoken for long before the fixture arrives, which pushes United supporters without a ticket toward the home sectors and lifts demand across the whole ground.
The December slot adds a third layer. A 17:00 Saturday kickoff four days before Christmas is a broadcast-friendly slot that pulls in a national audience, and it sits in a congested run of fixtures either side of the holiday. Hospitality at the Emirates clears earliest of anything on the page for exactly these dates.
There is a return fixture at Old Trafford later in the season, and the allocation dynamics run the other way there. Buyers doing both legs generally secure the Emirates date first, because Manchester United vs Arsenal tickets come from a larger ground with a different release pattern.
Yes, and for most buyers it is the only route. Arsenal's ticketing runs on a tiered structure: season ticket holders come first, then paid memberships in descending order of priority, then a general sale that rarely materialises for a Category A fixture. By the time a match like this reaches open sale, there is usually nothing left to sell.
The waiting list is the clearest illustration of the squeeze. Arsenal charge a joining fee to sit on it and state plainly that they cannot give supporters an estimated timeframe, because progression depends on non-renewals, declined offers and availability inside a stadium that is already full. A prospective buyer planning a trip in December 2026 is not getting a season ticket in time to use it.
Membership tiers help at the margins but not for this fixture. The lower-priced tiers give access to a ballot rather than a guaranteed seat, and the higher tiers that carry real priority are capped in number and sell out. Anyone who has tried to convert a membership into a United ticket will recognise the pattern.
That leaves the resale market, which is where seats held by members who cannot attend actually surface. English league tickets are not personalised in the way Italian ones are, so the administrative burden is light. Read the listing notes, bring photo identification in case a steward asks, and treat the ticket as the document that gets you through the turnstile.
Five things set the price here: the tier and stand you choose, how little supply survives the membership waterfall, the Saturday evening broadcast slot, Arsenal's Category A classification for this opponent and whether you want catering attached. Standard Premier League fixtures at the Emirates have opened far lower in 2026/27, while the top-band dates sit in a different market entirely. Only the north London derby prices above this one, which is worth holding in mind when you compare against Arsenal vs Manchester City tickets or the other Category A visits.
| Ticket Type | Resale Price Range | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper tier corners and behind the goal | £400 – £620 | Value buyers on a Category A date | The lowest entry point available for this fixture. Elevated, with a full view of shape. |
| Lower tier North Bank and Clock End | £550 – £850 | Atmosphere close to the pitch | Where the noise concentrates. Expect long spells standing at a fixture of this size. |
| Upper tier side stands | £620 – £1,000 | Balanced view of the whole game | The most consistent sightlines outside the premium bands. Popular with visiting neutrals. |
| Lower tier side stands, central | £850 – £1,600+ | Halfway line and proximity | Almost entirely held by long-standing season ticket holders. Resale supply is thin and late. |
| Club Level and hospitality | £900 – £2,000+ | Corporate guests and occasions | Padded seating, indoor access and catering. Clears earliest of any category. |
Prices reflect typical resale ranges and may change as demand and availability shift closer to the match.
The Emirates is a four-tier bowl with no bad angles and no restricted-view legacy of an old ground. The lower tier wraps the pitch, Club Level and the executive boxes sit in the middle bands and the upper tier rises above them. Because the bowl is continuous, the difference between a good seat and a frustrating one is mostly about height and which end you sit behind rather than obstruction. Working through the Emirates Stadium seating plan before you filter listings saves you paying for a tier you did not want.
Four stands define the ground. The North Bank sits behind the north goal and is the traditional home of the more vocal support, while the Clock End is behind the opposite goal. The East and West Stands run down the sides. Visiting supporters are placed in the south-east corner, in the lower tier of the Clock End where it meets the East Stand, through gates K, L and M, with a league allocation of around 3,000.
Further detail on transport, gate times and matchday facilities sits on the Emirates Stadium tickets listings.
| Area | What It Suits | Pricing Bracket | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Bank lower | Supporters who want the noise | Mid to high | The most vocal part of the ground. Flat angle from the front rows. |
| Clock End lower | Home fans who prefer a calmer end | Mid | Behind the goal without the singing-section intensity. Sits alongside the visiting section. |
| East and West Stand lower | Buyers who want proximity to the halfway line | Highest general admission | Held by long-standing holders. Very little reaches resale for a Category A fixture. |
| Club Level | Premium and corporate guests | Highest overall | Padded seats with indoor lounge access. Sold largely on multi-year arrangements. |
| Upper tier | First-time visitors and tactical viewers | Low to mid for this fixture | Best value on the plan. High enough to read the whole pitch, steep enough to stay close. |
| South-east corner (visiting supporters) | United supporters through gates K, L and M | Mid | Around 3,000 for league matches. Visiting colours belong here only, not in home areas. |
Neutral buyers and undecided fans should start in the upper tier side stands. You get the full pitch, you sit clear of both sets of organised support and the price sits meaningfully below the equivalent row downstairs. If you want the atmosphere without the standing, the lower rows of the upper North Bank are the compromise most visitors settle on. The same reasoning applies when you weigh up Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur tickets or any other top-band date.
Arsenal operate one of the broadest hospitality ranges in English football, built around Club Level and a set of named lounges that each carry their own catering standard and access window. For a December evening kickoff, an indoor lounge is less an indulgence than a sensible piece of planning.
| Hospitality Option | Typical Buyer | Main Appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Club Level seat with lounge access | Individuals and couples marking an occasion | Padded seat on the middle tier plus indoor lounge either side of kickoff. |
| Named premium lounges | Guests who want the full matchday rather than ninety minutes | Dedicated lounge with a set menu, extended access and a reserved seat. |
| Executive box | Companies and private groups | Self-contained space with its own catering and a reserved viewing balcony. |
| Legends and heritage packages | Supporters who want the club history attached to the day | Themed hospitality with former-player appearances and memorabilia settings. |
Hospitality clears earliest at the Emirates because the inventory is fixed and a large share is sold on season-long or multi-year arrangements before individual fixtures go on sale. What reaches resale for a Category A December fixture tends to be a handful of covers rather than a block, so treat it as the first decision rather than the last.
One practical note. Lounge sittings open a set number of hours before kickoff and close at the whistle or shortly after, so a 17:00 start means arriving mid-afternoon to get what you paid for. The listing notes will state the access window attached to your package.
Premier League ticketing is now overwhelmingly digital, though the delivery method still varies by seller. The listing states which applies, and each route carries its own preparation.
| Delivery Type | What to Confirm |
|---|---|
| Mobile ticket | That the barcode loads without a data connection, and that your phone holds charge through a cold evening. |
| E-ticket to print | That you print at full size on white paper with the barcode clean and unfolded. |
| Collection in London | The pickup point, its matchday opening hours and what the seller asks you to bring. |
| Courier delivery | The delivery window against your travel dates, and whether someone can sign at the address. |
Read the listing notes before you buy rather than after. Bring valid photo identification in case a steward asks at the gate. Charge your phone before you leave for the ground if you are entering on mobile, then screenshot the barcode as a backup. Arsenal and Holloway Road stations sit within a short walk, and Holloway Road normally operates exit-only restrictions around kickoff, so plan the return leg before you set off.
Turnstiles open well ahead of kickoff and the concourses fill fast for a fixture of this size. Arriving an hour early costs nothing and takes every queue out of the equation, which matters more in December than it does in April.
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Step1
Open the fixture listing
Go to the Arsenal against United listing for 19 December 2026 and confirm the date before you filter anything. Premier League kickoff times are finalised for broadcast some weeks ahead, so the slot can move.
Step2
Set up your account
Browsing needs no sign-in, but completing an order does. Take a minute to create an account up front so nothing holds you up at checkout on a fast-moving fixture.
Step3
Pick your tier first
Decide between lower, Club Level and upper before you compare prices. At the Emirates the tier shapes both the view and the cost far more than the exact block does.
Step4
Filter by quantity
Set the exact number of seats you need. Listings hold seats in fixed blocks, so asking for three where sellers list pairs will hide inventory that would otherwise have suited you.
Step5
Read the listing notes
Delivery method, seats-together status and any seller conditions are declared here. Two listings at the same price in the same tier can carry very different terms.
Step6
Review the full cost
Go to checkout and read the total with fees and delivery included. On a fixture priced this high, the gap between headline and total is worth checking across two or three listings.
Step7
Complete the purchase
Enter your details carefully and confirm the delivery method one last time. If you are travelling, take the option that does not depend on a fixed address or a courier slot.
Step8
Confirm and monitor delivery
Keep the confirmation email, then use track order to follow your delivery through to arrival. If the kickoff time shifts for television, your order stays valid and updated details follow.
London absorbs a December weekend easily and a Saturday evening kickoff leaves the whole day free beforehand. For overseas buyers, mobile delivery is the safest option because it removes any dependence on a hotel address or a courier window. Where collection in London is the only route offered, confirm the pickup location and its matchday hours against your arrival time before you commit.
Groups should use the quantity filter rather than assuming adjacency, then read the listing notes for explicit confirmation that seats are together. One further point for long-haul travellers: the Premier League confirms broadcast slots for each round several weeks out, and a fixture of this profile is a near-certain television pick, so a move by a few hours or to the Sunday is possible. Keep travel flexible, hold a spare evening either side of 19 December and treat the 17:00 slot as scheduled rather than final. United supporters travelling down have the easier journey, with direct trains from Manchester into Euston in a little over two hours.
For most of the 1990s and early 2000s this was the fixture that decided the English title, and the bitterness of that era still colours how both sets of supporters talk about it. The move from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006 coincided almost exactly with the end of that balance of power, and for roughly fifteen years afterwards the game was sold on memory rather than stakes. Both clubs spent long stretches of that period outside the title conversation entirely.
The record at the new ground tells its own story. Arsenal have won eleven of the twenty league meetings here since 2006, drawn four and lost five, a home record strong enough to matter but not so lopsided that United arrive expecting nothing. United's five wins are spread across the period rather than clustered, and the most recent came in January 2026, in the season Arsenal went on to be crowned champions.
What gives the 2026/27 edition its edge is that both clubs have arrived back in the same conversation at the same time. Arsenal are defending a title rather than chasing one, United finished third and returned to the Champions League and the fixture has stakes attached to it for the first time in a long while. That is why the pricing sits where it does, and why the seats that do reach the market go quickly.
The figures below cover Premier League meetings at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal as hosts, from the ground's opening season in 2006/07 through to the most recent visit in January 2026. Cup ties, European fixtures, matches at Highbury and fixtures at Old Trafford are excluded.
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches played | 20 |
| Arsenal wins | 11 |
| Manchester United wins | 5 |
| Draws | 4 |
| Arsenal goals | 34 |
| Manchester United goals | 22 |
| Biggest Arsenal win | 3-0 |
| Biggest Manchester United win | 1-3 |
| First Premier League meeting in scope | 21 January 2007 |
| Most recent meeting in scope | 25 January 2026 |
Figures compiled from the match-by-match record below. Every result was cross-referenced against two independent sources.
All Premier League fixtures played at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal hosting Manchester United, newest first. The sides have met once a season here in every campaign since the ground opened.
| Date | Score |
|---|---|
| 25 Jan 2026 | 2-3 |
| 04 Dec 2024 | 2-0 |
| 03 Sep 2023 | 3-1 |
| 22 Jan 2023 | 3-2 |
| 23 Apr 2022 | 3-1 |
| 30 Jan 2021 | 0-0 |
| 01 Jan 2020 | 2-0 |
| 10 Mar 2019 | 2-0 |
| 02 Dec 2017 | 1-3 |
| 07 May 2017 | 2-0 |
| 04 Oct 2015 | 3-0 |
| 22 Nov 2014 | 1-2 |
| 12 Feb 2014 | 0-0 |
| 28 Apr 2013 | 1-1 |
| 22 Jan 2012 | 1-2 |
| 01 May 2011 | 1-0 |
| 31 Jan 2010 | 1-3 |
| 08 Nov 2008 | 2-1 |
| 03 Nov 2007 | 2-2 |
| 21 Jan 2007 | 2-1 |
Results verified against league season records, club season match data, ESPN match reports and 11v11 records.
The fortnight before kickoff usually brings the widest choice, because that is when members release seats they cannot use. Leaving a Category A fixture to matchday tends to cost more and leaves fewer tiers open.
Visiting supporters are placed in the south-east corner, in the lower tier of the Clock End where it meets the East Stand, through gates K, L and M. The league allocation is around 3,000 and visiting colours belong in that section only.
Arsenal classify it in their top pricing band, alongside the north London derby and the visits of Liverpool and Manchester City. Face values start higher and resale follows, because almost no inventory survives the membership sale.
Sometimes, though supply narrows sharply at a sold-out ground. Set the quantity filter to your exact number and read the listing notes, or take two adjacent pairs in the same block if a single run is unavailable.
A padded seat on the middle tier plus access to an indoor lounge before the match and at half time, with catering included. Each package sets its own arrival and departure window, so confirm what yours covers.
Sources: Arsenal official club communications on ticketing categories, memberships, the season ticket waiting list and hospitality; Manchester United club records; Premier League fixture and results archives; club season match data for each fixture listed; ESPN and 11v11 match records; published stadium documentation for the Emirates Stadium.