Arsenal-Juve: Midfield Will Be Crucial
Tuesday night sees runaway Serie A leaders Juventus in London to take on Arsenal, the club previously captained by their influential midfielder Patrick Vieira, in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final. And Gunners boss Arsene Wenger says the midfield battle will be crucial.
However, Wenger believes it won't just be about Cesc Fabregas trying to prove a point to his former team-mate Vieira.
"I feel Cesc is a different player, one based more on mobility, whereas Patrick is more on physical presence," said Wenger in the build-up to the much-anticipated clash.
"They have the same understanding of the game, but the way they express their game intentions is a little bit different.
"For us, Patrick was an amazing player and I am convinced Cesc will be."
Wenger added: "What is interesting will be to see our midfield against their midfield, because it is not only Patrick, they have Emerson and Camoranesi too, so the strength of Juventus in there is high."
Arsenal's weekend Premiership fixture against Portsmouth was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch at Fratton Park, while Juve's Alessandro Del Piero is out of the squad after sufering a thigh injury during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Roma in Serie A.
Also out of the tie will be Juve's Pavel Nedved, suspended, and arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, cup-tied after appearing for Monaco.
But Sol Campbell might be in contention having recovered from an ankle injury. However, there are doubts about the fitness of Freddie Ljungberg (calf) and Jose Antonio Reyes (hamstring).