Kuyt and Van Persie were Feyenoord team mates before Van Persie made the move to the Premiership with Arsenal for £2.75m (€4m) over two years ago with Kuyt following in the summer to Liverpool for £10m (€14.8m).

Friends as well as Holland international team-mates, there is still plenty of professional rivalry between the pair.

Kuyt says: “I will ring him and tell him Liverpool are going to win when we play at Arsenal.”

However, rivalry aside, Kuyt has been impressed by the progress Van Persie has made with Arsenal.

He said: “I played one season with him in the Dutch league. He is growing a lot as a player as well as a human being.

“Now it is good to see him doing well at Arsenal, but I always knew that would work for him. He is maturing as a person and a player.

“That’s nice to see.”

He added: “I will talk to Van Persie, he’s a friend from the Dutch squad and we also were in the same team together at Feyenoord before he moved to Arsenal. It will be nice to see him and to beat him!

“Particularly because after we play at Arsenal both of us will be off to join up with the national team for a friendly next week.”

Kuyt sought Van Persie’s opinion in the summer on his proposed move to Anfield, as well as other fellow Dutchman already in the Premiership.

He said: “I spoke to him and a lot of Dutch players who are in the Premier League before I joined Liverpool just asking them how it is to play in England and what kind of club Liverpool is.

“They all said it is a wonderful club with perfect people to work for.”

Not surprisingly, friendship will be put aside on Sunday, with Kuyt knowing Liverpool desperately need to address their dreadful away league form this season, even if it is at such a hard venue as Arsenal.

Kuyt, who had a late run-out as substitute in the Carling Cup win at Birmingham, is expected to return to the side against Arsenal along with Peter Crouch, who did not figure at St Andrews.

Kuyt said: “After four home wins and the cup victory we have lots more confidence now, we just want to see how well we can play at Arsenal, we need to win.

“We can still produce more, not only me. I have played three matches on the trot with Peter (Crouch) and that partnership is getting better and better.

“It was the same with Craig Bellamy, we were improving together so there are now two partnerships that we can use knowing they work well.”

He added: “I can work with both of them. Things are getting better and better although I know there is still a big gap between us and the top sides. But if we can win at Arsenal then things will start to change for us.

“That will be the big test for us after four home wins and the bad start we have made in our away games, just one draw at Sheffield United is not good enough.”

Liverpool have been hit by a serious shoulder injury to Mohamed Sissoko, and expect him to be out for a month.