By Kehinde Okeowo
It is going to be a battle of two Arsenal legends, when the Arsenal football club hosts their London rival, Crystal Palace at the Emirate Stadium on Monday, October 18, 2021.
The Monday night game will see two former Gunners captains, Mikel Arteta, who is now in charge, and Patrick Viera, who was part of the invincible side, and now the gaffer in charge of Crystal Palace.
Viera played for the Gunners for 9 years between 1996 and 2005 and won 3 league titles and 4 FA cups. He became the captain of the side in 2002 and led them till he left for Juventus in 2005,
Arteta, on the other hand, joined 6 years after Viera’s departure in 2011 and left the club 5 years later in 2016, with 2 FA cups to his name.
As the French man leads Palace to the Emirates Stadium on Monday, hostility will be set aside for a few minutes, to honor a true son of the red half of London. Artera expects nothing less than a rousing reception for the Arsenal legend.
“He is an Arsenal legend and I hope he gets the reception he deserves for what he did for the club, not only as a player but also what he transmitted as a person.” He said.
The Eagles, as Crystal Palace are known, currently have 7points and sit 3 positions below Arsenal who are 11th in the league with 10 points.
Gunners will be hoping to make it a chastising Monday evening, for their cherished captain after the whistle has been blown, while he will be trying to show fans at the Emirates that he is the man for the job at the emirate.
