The duo – both members of the historic side which picked up Palace’s first-ever pair of major trophies at Wembley Stadium this year – will be on opposite sides at Emirates Stadium, having featured 39 times together for the Eagles (and once together for England).

Speaking to Sky Sports, Wharton joked: “Just don’t dive in!

“It'll be tough, obviously. I've trained with him many times now and played with him, so I know how good he can be. Obviously, we saw it at the back end of last year in those important games.

“Maybe I’ll just have to get into him a bit – see if he's up for the challenge! It’ll be good to obviously see him again and play against him.

“With players like that, for me, I'd let him make the first move. Obviously, playing against him so many times, he wants you to dangle tha

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