Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen is looking forward to locking horns with Manchester United ace Wayne Rooney and Chelsea star Didier Drogba.

The 23-year-old said: "The best strikers in the league are at Manchester United and Chelsea, so it's a big challenge for me against Rooney and Drogba.

"The Premier League is a higher level than the Dutch league. Every team is a good team, they are very physical and every game is a hard game. In the Dutch league sometimes you have easy games but in England there are none.

"Arsenal try to play good football along the ground and that's what we wanted to do at Ajax. It's more physical than the Dutch league, but you have to cope with that and be smart."