Chelsea star Willian says he will not hesitate to nutmeg David Luiz when the pair meet next month.
Luiz sealed a surprise switch from Chelsea to Arsenal last summer in an £8m deal.
The Brazilian defender had two spells with the Blues with Willian present during both periods that has seen them win the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup together.
And despite also being good pals from the national team, Willian admits there’s no loyalties when it comes to facing one another when Arsenal host Chelsea at the end of December has warned Luiz, who is not stranger to a nutmeg, to keep his legs closed when coming up against him.
“I’ve faced him a few times, he for Chelsea, me for Shakhtar, me for Chelsea, he for PSG,” he told Globo Esporte .
“Now it’s he for Arsenal. He’s a brother that I have, we met at the age of eight.
“But on the pitch… there’s no way. If I have to nutmeg him, I will.”
Luiz could well be in for another difficult test against his former team-mate and has come in for plenty of criticism for his displays of late.
The 32-year-old was on the receiving end of criticism for his performance against Southampton last time out.
Luiz was among one of several Arsenal players who switched off for Danny Ings’ opener in the 2-2 draw and former Gunners legends Martin Keown and Tony Adams did not hold back - the latter suggesting Unai Emery should even drop him.
“I warned against Arsenal signing David Luiz in August and I wonder if he should be taken out of the team now,” Keown wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“Certainly star players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette will not be signing extensions unless things change.”
Adams said: “They’re all sleeping look at Luiz here. What is Luiz doing? He’s just standing there.
“They’ve tried to play out from the back creating their own problems and they’re not into this game at all hopefully they might get a reaction.”
Luiz and Arsenal will get the chance to put things right when they face Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night (8pm).
Arsenal can secure their spot in the knockout stages of the competition if they draw or win, or if Standard Liege lose.
Meanwhile, Willian’s Chelsea are on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages after drawing 2-2 with Valencia on Wednesday night.
Chelsea, Valencia and Ajax are now all in contention to go through with their fate being decided in the final game week.
