Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are set for a showdown in Cardiff

And there are similarities and differences between the two men who hope to play alongside each other at club level for the next decade.

BREAKTHROUGH

HAVING signed from Cardiff for £5million, Ramsey made his competitive Arsenal debut in the Champions League qualifying tie against FC Twente as a 17-year-old in August 2008. His Premier League bow against Blackburn came one month later and he was rewarded with a new contract at the end of his first season with the Gunners, establishing himself as a first-team regular before the horrific double leg break he suffered against Stoke in February last year.

Wilshere became Arsenal’s youngest debutant when he replaced Robin van Persie as an 84th-minute substitute in the Blackburn game in which Ramsey made his league bow.

A loan spell at Bolton last season helped him get to grips with the physical nature of the Premier League and so impressed was Wanderers manager Owen Coyle that he tried to sign the teenager for another season.

After rejecting Bolton’s approach, Arsene Wenger handed Wilshere his first Premier League start in this season’s opener against Liverpool and he has never looked back.

PLAYING STYLES

WILSHERE has already been compared to almost every high-profile midfielder, past and present, including Liam Brady, Paul Gascoigne, Andrea Pirlo, Claude Makelele and his Arsenal team-mate Cesc Fabregas.

And it is the position Fabregas currently occupies behind the striker at Arsenal where both Wilshere and Ramsey feel most comfortable.

Ramsey asked Wenger if he was being signed to eventually replace Fabregas, but Wilshere has staked his own claim this season to take on the role if and when the captain departs. Wenger possibly gave Arsenal fans a glimpse into the future at West Brom last weekend when, without Fabregas, he started with Ramsey behind Van Persie and Wilshere further back alongside Denilson.

Having been on loan at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff, it was Ramsey’s first competitive start for Arsenal since his terrible injury at Stoke and it was clear he will need more time to rediscover his best form.

CHARACTER

THEIR styles of play may be similar, but Ramsey and Wilshere are polar opposites off the pitch.

Quiet and unassuming, Ramsey is often portrayed as shy. During early interviews he avoided eye contact and was clearly more comfortable letting his feet do the talking. After his injury, however, he has displayed an inner steel and determination to make sure he could return fit and strong enough to prove himself again.

Wilshere is far more outgoing. His confidence and swagger on the pitch is replicated off it and can easily be mistaken for arrogance. There is certainly no confidence issue. A sudden rise to stardom has already seen him suffer a couple of minor brushes with the law and he has had to adapt to the pressures of living life under the celebrity spotlight.

Despite differences of character, Wenger describes both of his young guns as “students of the game” and Ramsey and Wilshere are keen watchers of football on television.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRESS

RAMSEY has done well against England in the past and was outstanding in the European Under-21 play-off in October 2008, which Wales lost 5-4 on aggregate.

His senior debut came a month later in a friendly against Denmark when he was just 17 and he has 11 full caps, scoring two goals.

Wilshere made 20 appearances for England at Under-16, U17, U19 and U21 level before stepping up to the senior squad and started his first international in Denmark last month.