Why Emmanuel Adebayor must show Arsenal what they've been missing at the Emirates this weekend

Emmanuel Adebayor has the chance to show Arsenal what they are missing this weekend, when he travels to his former club for the first time since his his acrimonious move to Manchester City last summer.

When the two sides met at Eastlands last September, in City's dramatic 4-2 win, Adebayor was the villain of the piece, racing the length of the pitch to goad Arsenal's fans after scoring and raking his studs down the face of former team-mate Robin van Persie.

Adebayor was subsequently punished for both incidents, but since then his season has been equally turbulent, with injury, further suspensions and the trauma of the gun attack on the Togo team bus at the African Nations' Cup making it a campaign he will want to forget.

But with four games to go, starting with Saturday's trip to The Emirates to face his old club, Adebayor can turn a season of frustration and under-achievement into one of success, by inspiring City to win the race for fourth and clinch a Champions League spot for the first time.
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To do that he must cope with the inevitable abuse that awaits him at Arsenal, where his volatile temperament will be tested to the limit by the sustained vitriol aimed his way.

Much of it Adebayor has brought upon himself, with his outspoken remarks about Arsenal and why he had to leave, but he has the chance to have the last laugh on his baiters - by showing them what a class act they let go.

How Arsenal could have done with Adebayor this season, with Robin van Perise out of action for the past five months and Nicklas Bendtner a willing, if inadequate, replacement up front.

Many Premier League defenders, Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand among them, have identified Adebayor as the toughest striker to play against, because of his movement, quick feet and ability to drift all over the pitch and threaten from a variety of positions.

The time has come for Adebayor to justify that esteem in which he is held by his fellow pros by showcasing his enormous ability and consigning the ugly side of his game to the past once and for all. The Emirates would not be a bad place to start.