London, May 16 (IANS): Striker Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of Manchester United's English Premier League (EPL) match against Arsenal on Sunday after failing to recover from a dead leg.

The United captain was forced off at half-time during last Saturday's win against Crystal Palace. Also out is left back Luke Shaw -- he too was forced off at the Selhurst Park. Manager Louis van Gaal on Friday confirmed both may be absent for the last two games of the season, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"The situation is not positive for us, they cannot play, neither of them," he told MUTV. "Yes, it's a short-term thing, we have only one match to play. So I think it will be difficult for them to play again this season."

Rooney was replaced by Radamel Falcao after the interval last week but Robin van Persie could take his place up front against his former club Arsenal after being declared fit.

The Dutchman had missed the trip to Palace with a virus but could feature alongside Angel di Maria who is also available again after recovering from injury.

Van Gaal also revealed that they will be without Michael Carrick and Rafael, while Jonny Evans remains a doubt.

United are all but assured of their place in the top four, thus securing Champions League qualification as they currently sit six points ahead of Liverpool in fifth with two games remaining.

They could also leapfrog Arsenal into third with a win on Sunday, although the Gunners still have a game in hand.