AFTV News

Three Arsenal pre-season games that fooled us all By Jack Lacey-Hatton Are pre-season friendlies ever an accurate indicator of what is to follow? Trying to predict how Arsenal will get on over the next nine months can be a tricky task at the best of times. It is made near impossible when you throw some rogue friendly results in before the season starts. To some they are just glorified kickabouts, to others they offer an important temperature check on the forthcoming season’s fortunes.  Here are some of the Gunners’ most memorable warm-up matches from down the years. 2015 v Lyon It may be regarded as something of a light appetiser, but the truth is there are few pre-season games of higher quality than the Emirates Cup. The traditional two-day tournament is only ever contested by top sides and 2015 was no different. It was when Arsenal produced a stunning performance to dismantle a talented Lyon team, which featured former Gooner Alexandre Lacazette, 6-0. The team went on to ...

  What we learnt from Arsenal's pre-season defeat to Premier League rivals Chelsea By Jack Lacey-Hatton Ahead of next weekend’s final pre-season game against Spurs, Arsenal’s other London rivals Chelsea visited the Emirates on Sunday, coming away with a 2-1 victory. The three clubs are competing in a mini pre-season round robin tournament known as ‘the Mind Series’. But the Gunners started with a defeat, after goals from Kai Havertz and Tammy Abraham. It was another disappointing result from a mixed pre-season, with the start of the new Premier League campaign now under two weeks away. However, games like this are not all about the result. Instead Mikel Arteta will want to be able to spot the errors and rectify them by the time the serious stuff gets underway. So what did we learn from the Chelsea game on Sunday?   Mikel Arteta is still short of top-class options in midfield The game exposed how Arsenal are still struggling for depth in the all-important centr...

What has gone wrong in Arsenal’s pre-season fixtures?  By Jack Lacey-Hatton Despite the optimism of new signings and a relatively strong finish to last season, pre-season hasn’t quite gone to plan so far. Mikel Arteta will disappointed by two friendlies north of the border, a 2-2 draw with Scottish champions Rangers at the weekend, which followed on from a 2-1 defeat at Hibernian. Whilst you should never read too much into non-competitive fixtures, the performance levels in both games have left some fans concerned. Clearly there is much work to do before the new campaign gets underway properly, against. But what has gone wrong so far in Arsenal‘s pre-season?   Defending set-pieces It’s an obvious place to start, but an area that must be a cause of concern to the manager. From the four goals Arsenal have conceded across the two matches so far, three have come from opposition corners. That has to be a worry, particularly if Arteta’s men continue to concede goal...

What can we expect from Arsenal's pre-season fixtures? By Oli Dickson Jefford Though it’s been a breathless summer of Euros action, football just doesn’t stop with Arsenal playing their first pre-season friendly later today. 400 miles separate the Emirates from Easter Road, the home of Hibernian FC, but that journey is what Arsenal have faced as they prepare to face Jack Ross’ side later today. Hibernian finished a highly respectable third in the Scottish Premiership in the 2020-21 season, with only Rangers and Celtic finishing above them. They will fancy their chances against an Arsenal side likely to feature several younger and inexperienced players, though the Gunners will still probably be favourites to get a result. Two tests north of the border A tougher test awaits after that match, with Rangers next up on the 17th July. Rangers won their first league title in ten years earlier this summer and did so in style, topping the Scottish table 25 points clear of Celtic and winning ...