Arsenal play their first preseason match of the summer against A.C. Milan today in Singapore. The club have been training overseas for a few days as preparations for the Premier League season ramp up with a three-match tour — today against Milan, Sunday the 27th against Newcastle, and Thursday the 31st against Tottenham in Hong Kong.
I’m not sure how much there is to learn from preseason matches generally, and the first one of the summer in particular. It’s more about getting minutes in the legs,
integrating new players into the team, and (re)building confidence for the players coming back from injury. Case-in-point: the starting backline today is Zinchenko, Calafiori, Saliba, and White. I doubt we’ll see that combination in that alignment again this season.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the attack this preseason, but I don’t think we’re going to see much of anything new today. We may not see anything new until the Emirates Cup or the first Premier League match of the season. Noni Madueke is not with the team on the Asia tour because he’s getting time off after Chelsea’s Club World Cup run (despite offering to cut his vacation short to join his new club). Viktor Gyokeres has yet to officially sign for Arsenal, so obviously he’s not there.
Everyone will be watching Max Dowman, tipped as the Next Big Thing to come out of Hale End. The 15-year-old is expected to spend significant time with the first team this season in training and for good reason — he looks like a star in the making. His driving runs through the midfield are a thing to watch and at the youth level, he caps them off with goals, scoring 15 last season. Also on the tour is 15-year-old defender Marli Salmon. The club posted a nice write-up of all the academy players on tour with the senior squad.
You can stream the match on Arsenal.com for £7 or you can buy a pass for all five preseason matches for £15. According to LiveSoccerTV.com, today’s match will stream on Paramount+ (and FuboTV through Paramount+) but I can’t seem to find the link on the platform.
I’ll be updating, observing, and commenting on the match on the TSF Bluesky account, although I anticipate saying less than I usually do for regular season matches. I’ve still got to work myself back into form, after all.
Arsenal Lineup - Raya, White, Saliba, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Norgaard, Rice, Nwaneri, Martinelli, Saka, Havertz
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Rojas-Fedorushchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Salmon, Nichols, Kiwior, Copley, Merino, Lokonga, Zubimendi, Kabia, Nelson, Trossard, Odegaard, Harriman-Annous
Gabriel Magalhaes has not dressed — he’s in training with the first team but still working back from his hamstring injury and surgery. As of right now, there aren’t any concerns about his availability to start the season. Fabio Vieira, like Noni Madueke, is not with the club on the tour because of Club World Cup participation. New but not yet announced signing Cristhian Mosquera flew from London to Singapore yesterday.
More from theshortfuse.sbnation.com:
- Arsenal 3-2 Vitoria: It’s Nicolas Pepe’s world, we’re all just living in it
- xGunners: The cost benefit analysis of sacking Unai Emery
- Arsenal v. Vitoria: Community player ratings
- Arsenal v. Vitoria SC: another who’s that
- Friday open thread: Not so bad!
- Arsenal will not make the Champions League with Unai Emery. It is time to find a coach who can.
- Thursday cannon fodder: shock influencer flourish
