25/04 - 20:00
Patrick Vieira makes his return to North London as his Crystal Palace side face Arsenal in the Premier League tonight. This will be Vieira's first game against Arsenal in his managerial career, with his Palace side sitting 14th in the table - just one place behind his former club.
Vieira is relishing the opportunity, “I’m really looking forward to it. I had a chance to play for this club for nine years - I arrived when I was a kid and left as a man."
"This is the club where I played my best football so obviously going back will be emotional. But I will put that on the side because what is important for us is to perform well and try to get the points.”
The Gunners legend will surely get a rapturous reception from the Arsenal faithful - many of who may wish they had a player of his quality in the team today. Indeed, Vieira is a someone that Arsenal never truly replaced after his departure for Juventus in 2005. Yet despite playing for six seasons after his Highbury exit - including an 18-month spell at Manchester City - the former France player has only faced Arsenal twice.
Unhappy returns
The first encounter happened in Vieira's first season after his exit when Juventus faced Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals at Highbury. Arsenal famously reached the final that year and were impressive in Europe despite being a long way off Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea domestically. Cesc Fàbregas (who became a star that night) and Thierry Henry scored the goals as Arsenal outclassed Juventus. Vieira had a particularly tough night, getting suspended after a yellow card and missing the second leg in Turin.
After three and a half seasons in Milan with Inter, Vieira made his return to the Premier League by signing for Manchester City in January 2010. In April, he played his first game against the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. It was a scoreless bore draw in the end and Vieira was given a great reception by the Arsenal fans.
Vieira stayed in Manchester as a player for another season but didn't feature in either of City's games against Arsenal that year. Arsenal won the first one comfortably 3-0 (thanks to an early red card for City) and settled for another 0-0 later in the year.
Looking forward
Vieira has had a promising start to his managerial stint in South London. Palace have only lost two league games this season (to Chelsea and Liverpool - no shame there) and beat his old team's fierce rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, 3-0.
Every other game this season has been a respectable draw against difficult opponents. But no doubt Vieira will be desperate for a win against his old club.
