Henry and Owen to go goal hunting

Arsenal's Thierry Henry and England's Michael Owen go goal hunting at Highbury on Sunday in round three of the fiercest strikers' duel in European soccer.

Henry and Owen are the hottest forwards in the British game at the moment, each tuning up impressively for the summer's World Cup when they will carry the respective hopes of France and England.

Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is in the same category, but unlike his rivals, the Dutchman will be a frustrated spectator in South Korea and Japan with the Netherlands' having failed to qualify.

Sunday's game at Highbury is the third of four Arsenal-Liverpool matches in the space of nine months.

Owen won the first hands down, when his two goals in the last seven minutes gave Liverpool their dramatic 2-1 FA Cup final victory in Cardiff last May.

Henry was guilty of a string of misses and later spoke of Arsenal's need for "a fox in the box" -- an out and out goal poacher -- but seven months later the Frenchman can rightfully claim that label as his own.

This season the 24-year-old former winger has scored 23 goals in 27 games for his club, and he coolly scored from the penalty spot two days before Christmas as Arsenal gained revenge with a precious 2-1 victory at Anfield.

Owen drew a blank that day, but the 22-year-old's goal ratio of 19 in 24 games for Liverpool this season is barely inferior to Henry's.

The marginal difference is reflected in the premier league table, with Arsenal one point ahead of Liverpool in the tightest title race for years.

QUALITY FINISHERS

Physically very different -- Owen is squat and stocky while Henry is taller and more elegant -- they share two qualities which mark them out from the rest: white-hot pace and ice-cool finishing.

If Henry's first touch is marginally superior to that of Owen, the Englishman's unflappable temperament gives him a slight edge -- although Henry is no hothead.

Sunday's showdown has an important bearing on the championship and it will give the victor a psychological edge for the fourth meeting between the two teams on January 26 or 27, when Liverpool return to Highbury in the tie of the FA Cup fourth round.

Should the pair still be inseparable after that, it will merely heighten expectations for a potentially epic fifth shootout -- in Japan on June 15, when world champions France could face England in the World Cup second round.