Arsenal vs Barcelona

Arsenal and Barcelona are set to square off at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in a mouth-watering summer friendly.

Back-to-back 1-1 draws against Watford and Nurnberg saw Arsenal’s pre-season start with a whimper rather than a bang. However, Mikel Arteta’s side steadied the ship with an overwhelming 5-0 win over MLS All-Stars in their opening United States friendly, only to lose 2-0 to fierce rivals Manchester United last time out. Despite a poor result, the ‘Gunners’ support got to witness marquee signings Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, and Jurrien Timber in action. The new trio will be under pressure to help Arsenal overcome a rotten seven-game stretch (W2, D2, L3). With all five results (wins/losses) in that sequence seeing the winner on the day come out on top without conceding, scoring the opening goal will likely be of paramount importance.

Meanwhile, Barcelona eased past J1 League title hopefuls Vissel Kobe 2-0 in their opening warm-up fixture, scoring twice within the first 20 minutes of play. However, complacency could be an issue for the newly-crowned La Liga champions as they suffered three defeats in their last four league games (W1) toward the end of the 2022/23 campaign. Xavi Hernandez’s side conceded precisely twice in all three losses, having only allow 14 goals in their 34 top-flight outings beforehand. However, the ‘Blaugrana’ should still take the field in a buoyant mood, knowing they’ve emerged victorious in their last four showdowns against Arsenal, notably scoring 2+ goals in each triumph.