Vieira and Keane face showdown of pain

Every great drama has a great subplot. For tomorrow's match of the season, the meeting of Arsenal and Manchester United, there may unfold one of the greatest of them all.

Two wounded warriors ­ Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane ­ the heartbeats of their sides, are hoping to drag their hurting bodies through a contest which, more than any other for the past decade, will decide not just the destination of the championship but where the power in English football truly resides.

For Keane there is more than a dead leg suffered in the astonishing thrashing of Newcastle United to contend with. Having been usurped by Vieira as the most effective, and powerful, midfield player in the land, and having had his own abilities questioned, there is pride at stake. And Keane is all about pride. If, in what may well be a final season for him, even though he is just 31, he can summon the power of old from his battered limbs it may well rank as his finest achievement.

Vieira, rated 50-50 for the contest because of his injured knees, but surely set to play, appeared to recognise as much yesterday. "I enjoy playing against Roy Keane," he said. "You always want to play against the best and he is one of the best midfield players. He has had some bad injuries and maybe it has taken time for him to come back to his best, but I still think he's one of the best midfielders out there.

"It will be an important battle, but it will be important in every part of the pitch." Indeed it will but, as everyone knows, Vieira against Keane will be the confrontation as much for how it sets the tone for an evening like no other in the 10-year history of the Premiership.

None of the games between the sides in recent times has been so important. Even last season, when Arsenal clinched the title at Old Trafford, they knew that they could have lost and still won the championship by beating Everton. This time it is different. Defeat for either would take matters out of their hands.

Add to that the fact that these two clubs have enjoyed a virtual duopoly over the English game, filling the top two Premiership places from 1997-98 to 2000-01, the first time the same clubs had done so for four successive seasons. Liverpool split them last term, but the head-to-head has been re-established.

United feel they have the momentum. A home win over Charlton sent Arsenal eight points clear at the top on the day that United lost the Worthington Cup final. Now, just as Arsenal reeled in a big United lead in 1998, Sir Alex Ferguson's team have caught up this time.

Indeed, United are unbeaten in 13 Premiership games since Boxing Day, with only the draws against Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers preventing a perfect record.

Paul Scholes, who scored a hat-trick at St James' Park to take United three points clear, said yesterday: "You'd like to think the momentum is bubbling just at the right time. We've had two great wins and now hopefully we can carry it on at Highbury. It was a great performance [at Newcastle]. I don't think we will play much better than that again and I don't think we have played much better than that before."

The one disappointment for them was, of course, the convincing defeat at Real Madrid but while that is a serious setback, Arsenal have suffered even more in Europe, their troubles in failing to qualifying for the last eight hampering their domestic form. But, like all great dramas, they can provide a twist in the tale.