World Cup star Pirlo hails Gunners brand of 'total football' as the most exciting to watch

Arsenal were embarrassed by Manchester United on Saturday as the Premier League champions put four goals past them in the FA Cup.

Tonight, they face an even greater challenge in the form of European champions AC Milan, and Arsene Wenger's team must give their manager a positive response.

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Top Guns: Cesc Fabregas (left) and Emmanuel Adebayor (second from right) are among the best, according to Andrea Pirlo (below)

Andrea Pirlo is impressed by Arsenal's style of play

Sir Alex Ferguson coaxed the right reaction out of his players when they bounced back from their derby defeat by rivals City to thrash the Gunners - now Wenger must do the same.

Not that he will have to try too hard according to one of Milan's midfield artists, Andrea Pirlo.

The Italian international is convinced that the "total football" Arsenal play will be in evidence at Emirates Stadium and that, on their day, they are "perhaps the best team in the world".

Pirlo added: "The way in which Arsenal move the ball around on the floor is extraordinary - they are fast and effective. I talk a lot about Dutch football with Clarence Seedorf and although I wasn't born when Holland played 'Total Football', I can see that whatever Arsenal team is trained by Arsene Wenger, they have always played beautiful and effective football, very skilful ball retention, especially on the ground, and they always have great movement to fill empty spaces - it is a kind of total football perhaps.

"We'll have to be smart enough, and good enough to prevent it killing us. Arsenal and AC Milan are very special teams, this season."

The 28-year-old World Cup winner is certainly a fan of Arsenal's latest midfield star. Pirlo said: "Cesc Fabregas is very strong, technically gifted, with a strong personality, he has a bit of everything - and he is scoring a lot this season too. Even though Fabregas is young he is already one of the strongest players in the world.

"He can only improve too - which is scary."

Arsenal's faithful will be glad to hear that Wenger will tell Fabregas to play his normal game tonight. This will involve high tempo attacks from the kick-off in the hope that the intensity of their game will wear down an experienced but ageing team.

"Their average age is older," said Wenger. "But the player who made the difference for them last season was a relative youngster - Kaka."

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Milan will almost certainly use a deep defence with Pirlo's passing providing the route out to 25-year-old Kaka, who will use his Brazilian flair on breakaway attacks. "They will try to suck us in and hit us on the break," said Wenger.

Employing similar tactics, Inter Milan came unstuck at Liverpool last night in episode one of the Anglo-Italian clash. In episode two tonight, Wenger, facing his 100th Champions League match with Arsenal, expects his team to confront an equally challenging tactical battle.

He said: "It's up to us to show we can cope with this type of game.

"It's a different tournament at the knock-out stage. Every goal can be decisive and everyone is under pressure. The first leg is usually critical because it strengthens belief for one side and weakens it for the other."