Arsenal Nemesis Ruud Van Nistelrooy Reveals Why He Expects Good Reception Ahead of Europa League Clash

• Ruud van Nistelrooy has joked he expects a warm welcome from Arsenal when he visits the Emirates Stadium on Thursday
• The Gunners welcome the Dutch international, currently head coach at PSV Eindhoven, and his team in the Europa League on Thursday, October 20
• Van Nistelrooy famously missed a penalty in 2003 against the Gunners, which ended up being the same campaign which Arsenal finished as the Invincibles

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has come out with a hilarious jibe at Arsenal, as his PSV side prepare for a tricky test at the Emirates Stadium.

‘Ruud Boy’ was a top striker at Manchester United and Real Madrid, but Arsenal always seemed to be the team that gave him problems in terms of scoring against them.

The Dutchman has the chance to get one over Arsenal once again, but this time as a football manager.

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Ahead of the game, he looked back at his playing days against Arsenal as he joked about the Gunners being grateful to him.

“The pressure was there. Both teams were competing for the Premier League, and it’s possible (the title) would have been decided over the course of those games,” he said as quoted on TalkSport and AFC Newsroom.

“The penalty miss is why I expect a warm welcome tomorrow. I kept them invincible because of my miss."

As a Manchester United player, van Nistelrooy came up against the Gunners 12 times, winning four, losing four and the other four occasions ending in a stalemate.

There was a particularly famous game during the 2003/04 season which ended in a 0-0 draw, but it was not short of controversy.

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In that game, the Dutchman famously got Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira dismissed and was handed a massive chance to give his side the lead from the penalty spot.

However, his spot kick cannoned off the post, which led to Arsenal’s Martin Keown running up to van Nistelrooy and smacking him on the head, in a moment that has been immortalised through a now infamous photo.

Arsenal went on to win the league that season, famously going the entire campaign unbeaten, but things would have been much different had ‘Ruud Boy’ buried his penalty.

Evra defends former teammate Cristiano

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on Patrice Evra's interesting theory on why Cristiano Ronaldo went to the dressing room before full-time on Wednesday.

Ronaldo was an unused substitute and was visibly discontent during United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham.

Evra theorised that Ronaldo could have been going through something unrelated to Manchester United’s emphatic win over Tottenham.