Gjanni Alioski 'cannot wait' to renew acquaintances with Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe when Leeds United visit the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
Pepe was sent off when he put his head into Alioski's face when the two sides played out a 0-0 draw back in November, with a number of Arsenal players accusing the North Macedonian international of overreacting.
Leeds travel down to the capital sitting a place above them in the Premier League table this weekend and Patrick Bamford has revealed Alioski's mischievous take ahead of the match.
"Do you know what he said in the changing room the other day?," Bamford told the official Leeds United podcast.
"He said ' I can't wait for Sunday'. I was like 'why?'. He was like 'I'm playing against my mate Pepe again.' I was like 'no way'."
Podcast co-host and ex-Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford admitted that he would not like to have faced the 28-year-old on the pitch.
"He would wind me up so much playing against him," Beckford said.." He would just wind me up. He's just constantly ratting around all the time."
"He never shuts up either," Bamford added.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was quick to condemn Pepe following November's red card.
“It is unacceptable, unacceptable. At this level you cannot do it,” said the Spaniard after his side were forced to play with ten men for the final 39 minutes at Elland Road.
“Considering how early we got Pepe sent off we have to take it,” he added. “I never like a draw but in the circumstances, it’s a point. We take it and move on.”
Marcelo Bielsa remained coy when asked about Alioski's reputation for getting 'under the skin' of opponents following the match.
"I don’t think this is something distinct in Gjanni, it’s the first time I’ve heard it," he said. "That’s not to say that you’re not right. He perhaps uses these resources and I haven’t noticed but what I do notice is that he’s a player with a lot of enthusiasm, with a lot of passion for every moment in the game."
Bamford added that there is confidence in the squad ahead of Sunday's match, believing the fixture 'suits them'.
"I think at the start of the season if you’d said we’d play Arsenal away in February and you’re going to be ahead of them in the league, then I don’t think anyone would have believed it," he continued.
"But that’s just the way it’s gone, and I’m excited about it. I think it will suit us, and we’ll see how we get on. ‘Now, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we want to be looking forward and seeing how far we can get."
Leeds take on the Gunners in a 4.30pm kick-off on Sunday afternoon and Bielsa's side would move four points ahead of their hosts with a win.
