Troy Deeney has been saying nice things about some Arsenal players before the sides meet on Sunday.

Arsenal travel to Watford on Sunday knowing that Unai Emery has only ever managed to beat Quique Sanchez Flores once in seven attempts, losing three.

Although Watford are rooted to the bottom of the table this season, new manager bounce should make Sunday afternoon’s match a tough encounter for an Arsenal side that has shown more than a little fragility on the road for a number of seasons.

Ahead of the game, Troy Deeney has been defending David Luiz as a ‘class act’ and described Nicolas Pepe as an ‘absolute destroyer’ in waiting.

“Look who he’s played for,” Deeney said in relation to David Luiz who has already come in for heavy criticism since joining Arsenal in the summer. “He’s not played for chump teams.

“He’s a Brazil international and has now played for Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Arsenal. Come on, people need to give him respect. It’s just because he’s one of those Marmite characters – and I’m one of them as well! Some people love us, some people hate us.

“But he’s generally just a good player. And not only is he a good player, he’s very charismatic with the way he carries himself so you have to appreciate that.”

He then moved on to Nicolas Pepe.

“I don’t think he’s too far away from being an absolute destroyer,” he added. “You can see the talent is there.”

Deeney, 31, has faced Arsenal nine times, winning three, losing six and never drawing. In thaht time, the man who accused Arsenal of lacking cajones, has scored three goals.

His fellow striker, former Arsenal man, Danny Welbeck, who spoke this weekend about the love he always felt from Gooners, has faced Arsenal four times already and has two wins and two goals from his time with United and two draws from his time with Sunderland.