Arsenal Pre-Season Discussion

Australia will be the first stop for Arsenal. They defeated Sydney FC 2-0 in the first match on Thursday, with Alexandre Lacazette scoring on his non-competitive debut.

Next up is a tie against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday at the ANZ Stadium, which has a capacity of 83,500 and was the main venue for the Olympic Games in 2000.

Team News vs Western Sydney Wanderers

Arsenal: Ospina, Koscielny, Elneny, Monreal, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Lacazette, Giroud

Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Kolasinac, Bielik, Bramall, Coquelin, Willock, Nelson, Ozil, Nketiah, Walcott

33" GOAL! GIROUD! Giroud opens the scoring! Monreal races down the left flank and finds Giroud unmarked in the box, who slams into the roof of the net from close range. A deserved lead

37" GOAL! RAMSEY! Ramsey makes it two! Our No 8 races onto another Monreal pass, and clips the bouncing ball over Janjetovic's head and into the empty net. Keep it up, Nacho!

44 GOAL! ELNENY! Scrap that, it is three! Elneny's 25-yard strike takes a wicked deflection off Hamill and finds its way into the bottom corner

57 GOAL: LUSTICA An unusual string of events here as Martinez picks up Ramsey's backpass and gives away an indirect free-kick six yards from goal. Lustica's initial effort is blocked before he smashes home the rebound

Giroud's finish was so nice

FULL-TIME That's all from ANZ Stadium - it finishes 3-1 to us

Did we only travel with 3 true centerbacks on this Asia trip? Bielik, Koscielny, and Mertesacker? I know Monreal has played CB for us in the past, but seriously, only those 3? Did Holding and Chambers need that much of a break after the U21's? Just looking at the game today, and our starting back 3 were Monreal, Bielik and Elneny.

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP

July 19, 2017 • 12:20 • Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

BAYERN MÜNCHEN 1

R. Lewandowski 9'

ARSENAL 1

A. Iwobi 90'+

PEN: Arsenal won 3 - 2 on penalties

Arsenal XI:

Petr Cech; Krystian Bielik, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Francis Coquelin, Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil; Danny Welbeck, Alexandre Lacazette.

Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 1 (2-3 pens): Cech and Martinez the heroes in shoot-out win

Arsenal enjoyed a rare victory against Bayern Munich after securing a penalty shoot-out triumph over the Bundesliga champions in Shanghai.

Wednesday's International Champions Cup fixture followed the pattern of many of their Champions League meetings as Bayern were utterly dominant, but Robert Lewandowski's eighth-minute penalty was all they had to show with Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech turning in a wonderful display.

Arsenal's defence featured 19-year-old Krystian Bielik and was helmed by Mohamed Elneny in the middle following Per Mertesacker's withdrawal prior to kick-off.

James Rodriguez saw five chances at a first Bayern goal repelled by the veteran goalkeeper, whose efforts were rewarded in the 94th minute when Alex Iwobi headed home after a fine Arsenal move.

There was no repeat of the pair of 5-1 thrashings that Bayern dealt the Gunners last term, but Carlo Ancelotti's men still looked a cut above, although they somehow came up short.

As the game entered a shoot-out, Renato Sanches hit the crossbar before Cech's replacement Emiliano Martinez continued the hero act with saves from David Alaba and Juan Bernat.

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUPJuly 19, 2017 • 12:20 • Shanghai Stadium, ShanghaiBAYERN MÜNCHEN 1R. Lewandowski 9'ARSENAL 1A. Iwobi 90'+PEN: Arsenal won 3 - 2 on penalties Arsenal XI: Petr Cech; Krystian Bielik, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Francis Coquelin, Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil; Danny Welbeck, Alexandre Lacazette.

Correction -- Mertesacker did not play. Elneny played CB instead of him.

It's getting painful to watch Theo Walcott play football, someone put him out of his misery

Correction -- Mertesacker did not play. Elneny played CB instead of him.

Arsenal's defence featured 19-year-old Krystian Bielik and was helmed by Mohamed Elneny in the middle following Per Mertesacker's withdrawal prior to kick-off.

CLUB FRIENDLIES

22 July 2017 • Beijing National Stadium, Beijing

ARSENAL 0

CHELSEA 3

Willian 40', M. Batshuayi 42', 49'

Arsenal Lineup:

D. Ospina 75'

C. Bramall 46'

P. Mertesacker 46'

Nacho Monreal 46'

A. Maitland-Niles 46'

G. Xhaka 46'

M. Özil 76'

A. Ramsey 69'

A. Oxlade-Chamberlain 69'

A. Iwobi

A. Lacazette 46'

Substitutes:

D. Martínez 75'

S. Kolašinac 46'75'

L. Koscielny 46'

K. Bielik

F. Coquelin 46'

Mohamed El Nenny 46'

J. Willock 69'

R. Nelson 69'

E. Nketiah

D. Malen 76'

D. Welbeck 46'

O. Giroud 46'

It's getting painful to watch Theo Walcott play football, someone put him out of his misery

We should sell him so Lemar will find a better chance to play in the first team.

Also, if we do sell Elneny, it could be better for us with young talents like Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles, and Nelson, they can have a better chance of developing with first team playing time than giving it to a decent player with a little potential left.

Selling Walcott would benefit both the club and the player i believe...

But Elneny would be a good backup, considering our injury record and he's still 25 only..

EMIRATES CUP

29 July 2017 • 20:50 • Emirates Stadium, London

Referee: A. Taylor

ARSENAL vs BENFICA

Arsenal Lineup:

13 Ospina

16 R. Holding

4 Mertesacker (c)

31 Kolasinac

61 Nelson

34 Coquelin

29 Xhaka

30 Maitland-Niles

14 Walcott

17 Iwobi

12 Giroud

Substitutes:

26 Martinez

6 Koscielny

18 Monreal

24 Bellerín

15 Oxlade-Chamberlain

8 Ramsey

35 Elneny

11 Ozil

9 Lacazette

23 Welbeck

21 Chambers

ARSENAL 5

Walcott (25', 33'), Lopez (52' og), Giroud (64'), Iwobi (71')

BENIFICA 2

Cervi (12'), Salvio (40')

Emirates Cup

ARSENAL wins Emirates cup despite defeat...

ARSENAL 1

A. Lacazette 62'

SEVILLA 2

J. Correa 49', S. N'Zonzi 69'