Gervinho v Pablo Zabaleta
Since his disastrous time at Arsenal came to an end two years ago, Gervinho has looked every bit of the player he was before his calamitous move to North London in 2011 from Lille.
Where he was weak, broody and lacking in goals at Arsenal he’s now almost the exact opposite for Roma scoring five goals and four assists this season. Gervinho is dangerous because he’s unpredictable and whilst he can look completely unstoppable one week, the next he’s missing glorious opportunities like against Bayern Munich.
Zabaleta will have to be on his toes to try and contain such a vivacious player but will be steeled knowing he managed to keep the Ivorian winger quiet when the two teams played at the Etihad.
The Argentine has to be one of the best right backs in the world and as well as being so solid defensively has the ability to get forward and wreak havoc as his goal against Sunderland recently showed. And whilst Gervinho loves to get forward he has a tendency to be slack in his defensive duties which a full back of Zabaleta’s experience will take to his full advantage.