Manchester United's Wayne Rooney ruled out of Arsenal clash

**© AFP/Getty Images**Manchester United's English striker Wayne Rooney (C) gets attention to his leg on the field during the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at Selhurst Park in south London on May 9, 2015. AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE […]

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will miss this weekend’s clash against Arsenal.

Last week, Rooney was substituted at halftime of United’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace after sustaining a dead leg at Selhurst Park.

Van Gaal also revealed that left-back Luke Shaw will not be available for Sunday’s encounter with the Gunners.

Shaw took a blow to the face during the first half on the Palace match and was replaced by Jonny Evans.

“You cannot avoid injuries like Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw,” Van Gaal said during his pre-match press conference.

“You cannot avoid them because football is with physical resistance and also a little bit of luck, or you are unlucky maybe.”

In other team news, the manager confirmed that Robin van Persie and Angel di Maria will return to the lineup on Sunday, but Marcos Rojo and Jonny Evans will be game time decisions.

Van Persie and Di Maria had both missed last weekend’s win over Crystal Palace through sickness and injury, respectively.

United have all but secured Champions League qualification for next season with a six-point advantage over Liverpool with two games to go – as well as a sizable goal difference.

However, fans are holding hope the club can put pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City in the remaining games and perhaps pip their league rivals to second or third place.

Despite the loss of Rooney and Shaw, Louis van Gaal is urging his side to keep the pressure on the Gunners this weekend.

“We want to be third – it’s still possible,” Van Gaal said during his pre-match press conference.

“We can put pressure on Arsenal on Sunday.”

After a season of tremendous support from the fans, Van Gaal went on to say that the players need to send supporters home happy on Sunday with a win over Arsenal.

“I want to thank the fans with a victory,” Van Gaal concluded.

Programming note: Manchester United vs. Arsenal will be shown LIVE on Sunday at 11:00am EST on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra.