By Boris Mellor
March 27 2006

Rumour has it that Vieira is back to his old form, strolling around and miss - passing the ball. He has also been criticised for not scoring enough. However he never scored that often for Arsenal either.

 He will get a great reception at Highbury, quite rightly so; his last kick for Arsenal won the FA Cup. He didn’t have a great game in mid field, but his coolness won the cup for the Gunners. On Tuesday night he can say the farewell his sudden transfer denied him.

It’s a big game for Vieira, many will see it as a chance for him to prove Wenger wrong, there again it’s a great opportunity for Arsene to prove that he is the one who is right. Arsenal were rested this weekend, whilst Juve had a tough battle against Roma, only managing a draw. So will Patrick raise his game, who can tell? No doubt he has the incentive. Arsenal need to hit Juve quickly with a goal or two and they may lose interest. That is what happened when they played Liverpool last year.

Arsenal are without Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole and Freddy Ljungberg, on the plus side RvP, and Reyes are now back. Juve have problems too with Nedved out due to suspension, and Del Piero injured. Arsenal have a good record against Italian clubs and in the second group phase of the 2001/2002 Champions League, the Gunners beat Juventus 3-1 at Highbury and lost 1-0 in Turin.

Possibly Juve are a better team now, but they are older. This Arsenal team is winning far more games in Europe than in previous years and have to be in with a good chance. If they can hit the ground running they could surprise a wary Juve. The longer they go without scoring the more confident Juve will become.

Arsenal have named their squad, Juve have said which players are available. See details below.

Jens Lehmann                                      
Manuel Almunia
Robert Pires
Gilberto
Alexander Hleb
Cesc Fabregas
Abou Diaby
Alexandre Song
Theo Walcott
Jose Antonio Reyes
Robin van Persie
Dennis Bergkamp
Thierry Henry
Philippe Senderos
Kolo Toure
Emmanuel Eboue
Mathieu Flamini
Johan Djourou

1 Buffon
3 Chiellini
4 Vieira
6 Kovac
7 Pessotto
8 Emerson
9 Ibrahimovic
14 Balzaretti
16 Camoranesi
17 Trezeguet
18 Mutu
19 Zambrotta
20 Blasi
21 Thuram
22 Bonnefoi
23 Giannichedda
24 Olivera
25 Zalayeta
27 Zebina
28 Cannavaro
32 Abbiati