Rio Ferdinand admits one Arsenal player would keep him up at night before playing him

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Rio Ferdinand often talks about Arsenal both positively and negatively, with his latest admission being quite a shock.

Ferdinand has been critical of Arsenal this season, sharing his opinion on the Gunners frequently over his punditry career.

The Manchester United icon faced the North Londoners 34 times as a player, winning only 32% of the clashes he was a part of. 

Being a six-time Premier League winner and with a Champions League medal to his name, Ferdinand conquered some of the world’s best of his era, but one Arsenal star caused him real problems.

• READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand highlights three Arsenal stars in Premier League 2024/25 Team of the Season so far

Rio Ferdinand would lose sleep over Thierry Henry

Ferdinand once claimed that Nicolas Anelka was the best number nine he’d faced, but the former Arsenal ace wasn’t the only player to disrupt the Englishman.

When discussing the best Premier League attackers of all time for TNT Sports, Ferdinand didn’t hesitate to put Thierry Henry in his front three.

“Unanimous saying that Thierry Henry is in their team, which just says everything you need to know about him,” Ferdinand said.

The former Premier League defender then admitted that before facing Arsenal and Henry, he would often lose sleep about coming up against the Frenchman.

“I think he’s one player in my career who the night before kept you up a bit.”

Being a member of the Premier League Hall of Fame, Ferdinand was well qualified to deal with the best of the best, but couldn’t avoid being fazed by Henry.

Thierry Henry’s record against Manchester United

When Ferdinand arrived at Old Trafford in 2002, the Englishman would’ve been warned about the threat Henry could cause the Red Devils.

The Gunners legend taunted United before Ferdinand arrived and continued to do so after, contributing to 13 goals in a total of 23 appearances against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side as a player of Arsenal, Juventus, Monaco and Barcelona. 

While Arsenal in general troubled Ferdinand, Henry’s record against United was less admirable than some would expect, winning only 26% of his matches with the Northerners as his opponent.

Still, Henry produced some golden moments against United and against Ferdinand, who wasn’t ashamed to admit the extent to which the striker would trouble him.