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It’s Time to Find Fourth Gear

Aug 8th, 2026 by

Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund (BVB) provides our next preseason warm-up opponent and may represent a stiffer challenge than we have faced to date. Hopefully, we won’t be as lethargic as we looked in Dublin against Betis. This is also the Grand Final of the 2026 Emirates Cup so there’s silverware (of a sort) at stake!

BVB was founded in 1909 and the name Borussia (Latin for Prussia) was taken from the local Borussia Brewery – football fans appear to have the same interests the world over! The club boasts the second largest membership in Germany after Bayern Munich and allegedly the fifth largest club membership in the world. Wherefore art thou, Arsenal? BVB’s Westfalenstadion is the largest stadium in Germany and contains the notorious Yellow Wall, and the club has the highest average attendance of any football club globally.

Dortmund is the second most decorated German club (after you know who) with 8 Bundesliga titles, 5 DFB-Pokals (equivalent to the FA Cup) and 6 Super Cups (equivalent to the Community Shield). BVB slightly eclipses us in European competition, having won the Champions League in 1997, the European Cup Winners Cup in 1966 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997 and being runners-up in the Champions League in 2013 and 2024 and in the UEFA Cup/ Europa League in 1993 and 2002. However, their UEFA rank this season has slipped to 10th (Arteta’s Arsenal has risen to 2nd behind Bayern Munich, but astonishingly above PSG and, unsurprisingly, above Real Madrid).

Since Jurgen Klopp departed in 2015, after delivering 2 championships, 1 cup and 2 supercups, BVB has been in a period of flux, appointing 10 coaches and picking up 2 cups and 1 supercup. Their last trophy was the cup in 2021 under interim coach Edin Terzić. The current coach is the Croatian legend, Nico Kovač who was appointed 18 months ago.

Last season, was fairly disappointing for BVB who finished their usual 2nd in the Bundesliga, 16 points behind Bayern Munich, to whom they lost home and away. BVB was surprisingly knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the ‘round of 16’ by Bayer Leverkusen and finished only 17th in the League Phase of the Champions League, missing the cut for automatic qualification for the Knock Out Phase then losing the play-off to Atalanta 4-3 on aggregate.

Over several decades, BVB have gained a justifiable reputation of developing world class players from a young age and selling them on to bigger clubs (usually Bayern!). Exemplars include Matthias Sammer, Mario Götze, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Ousmane Dembélé. 

Looking through their current squad, I don’t see anyone in that class, but that may simply reflect my ignorance rather than a lack of talent. Few names stand out to me, but BVB does still have many experienced internationals despite wide forward Karim Adeyemi, creative midfielder Julian Brandt and defensive midfielder Salih Özcan leaving this summer and centre back Niklas Süle retiring. Nico Schlotterbeck and Emre Can have not yet taken part in pre-season due to injury.

Goalkeeper

Gregor Kobel, first-choice Swiss international goalkeeper, played all league games last season. 

Three other keepers didn’t get a look in: Patrick Drewes, Silas Ostrzinsky and Alexander Meyer.

Defence

Nico Schlotterbeck, German international central defender and vice captain; 

Waldemar Anton, German international centre back/right back; 

Ramy Bensebaini, Algerian international left back/centre back;

Joane Gadou, 19, newly signed, French U-19 international centre back, 19.5m Euros; 

Julian Ryerson, Norwegian international fullback/wing-back.

Daniel Svensson, Swedish international fullback;

Luca Reggiani, 18, Italian international defender. 

Midfield

Emre Can, experienced German international and team captain; 

Jobe Bellingham, England U-21 international defensive midfielder; 

Felix Nmecha, press-resistant, box-to-box German international midfielder; 

Carney Chukwuemeka, Austrian international attacking midfielder/left winger

Marcel Sabitzer, Austrian international midfielder/winger/second striker;

Konstantinos Karetsas, 18, marquee signing, Greek international playmaker/winger, 30m Euro, slated to replace Brandt.

Justin Lerma, 18, newly signed, Ecuadorean U-20 international playmaker; 4m Euros;

Mussa Kaba, 17, newly signed, German U-17 international defensive midfielder; free.

Attack 

Servo Guirassy, Guinean international central striker, 22 goals last season;

Maximilian Beier, German international forward, second striker/winger; 10 goals last season;

Samuele Inácio, 18, newly signed, Italian international forward/attacking midfielder; free;

Fábio Silva. Portuguese international forward; ex-Wolves; underwhelming.

Kovac’s Dortmund is known for a pragmatic, direct, defence-first playing style, centred on a reliable back-three, aggressive physical duels and wing-orientated attacking overloads with fluidly rotating wing-backs and attacking midfielders in a disciplined 3-4-2-1 structure. Kovač prioritises game management and structural discipline over attacking flair, utilising an intense, high-energy press to force turnovers in the opponent’s half. Winning the ball back triggers direct, vertical counter-attacks into open space. Guirassy is the focal point of the attack and acts as a target man but also drops deep to open up space for Beier or inverted midfielders and the Guinean is the primary target for dead-ball situations.

Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund have faced each other eight times, always in the group stage of the Champions League and only this century. We first met in 2002, winning 2-0 at home then losing 1-2 away. Nine years later, we met again, drawing the away game 1-1 and winning the home game 2-1. Two years on, we didn’t do so well, losing 1-2 in London but winning 1- 0  in Dortmund. Only a year later, in 2014, we lost 0-2 away, winning by the same score at home. Thus, our head-to-head record stands at 4 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats.

This game against Arsenal represents BVB’s fifth pre-season friendly, so once again we can expect to face a team that is probably fitter and more match sharp than we are. Since 18 July they have beaten RW Oberhausen 3-1, and Düsseldorf 2-1, lost to Cerezo Osaka 0-1, and beaten FC Tokyo 1-0.

I expect that BVB, like Arsenal, will start their strongest team and replace them with multiple second-string players in the second half.

Who else might Mikel Arteta have available to invigorate the pedestrian performers from Dublin (I blame the Guinness!)? It’s too early for Bruno Guimarães to make his debut though he might be there to give the Emirates crowd a wave. The English and Spanish Gunners will still be lounging in the elite resorts of the world. I expect Gabriel and Martinelli to get more game-time than their Dublin cameos offered, perhaps 45 minutes, and Ødegaard, who joined training before Dublin, might get 30 minutes or so. With that in mind, and no more signings emerging, I expect the following starting XI, though I, personally, would start Meslier over Kepa and Havertz over Gyökeres but I don’t have to manage the egos of slighted players who might have to be called upon during the season:

Kepa

White Mosquera Gabriel Calafiori

Ødegaard MLS Nwaneri

Dowman Gyökeres Tzolis

I was unimpressed with our chance creation and finishing and the first half defending in Dublin. I don’t expect a sudden epiphany, so I don’t anticipate a high scoring game with multiple goals from the Arsenal. Meanwhile, Dortmund have lost much of their firepower and creativity over the summer and are bedding new signings into key roles. Therefore, I predict a 1-1 draw and an Arsenal victory on penalties!

COYG – it’s time to find fourth gear!

Posted in Match Preview | 31 Drinks »

Disappointing Night in Dublin, But No Disaster

Aug 6th, 2026 by

So, after the farce of the Girona game where Arsenal’s IT department managed to prove that ,in an increasingly tech-savvy world, there is still a place for the enthusiastic amateur, we move on to Betis. 

The starting team was identical to that which took the field in Spain.  Betis had Bellerin, resplendent with full-on “1970s porn star” hair and tache look.  

Lansdowne Road looked full, with a great presence from the Irish Gooners. I imagine the bars of Dublin 2 received a hammering pre-match.  The stadium controllers had clearly taken their lead from Wembley with regard to sound levels of the pre match “entertainment”. It was deafening on the telly, nicely ensuring that very little actual match atmosphere could develop, so far as I can tell.  In fairness, NLF received a rousing rendition from the crowd at kick off.

The game itself was not terribly interesting. We ought to have scored in the first minute after a fantastic move, sweeping across the pitch resulted in Havertz feeding Gyokeres 2 yards out, but the Swede fluffed his lines. That’s fine. Save it for the real games, Viktor.

Shortly after, Kepa made a tame long-distance shot look like the entrance exam for the Chinese Civil Service, pushing out needlessly to Mosquera who himself looked somewhat panicked as he hammered the ball out for a corner under precisely no threat at all. From the ensuing corner, Kepa, a giant of a man, was seemingly baulked in the smallest way and collapsed like a cardboard box left out in the rain, leaving a Betis player unmarked at the back post with oodles of time to hammer home. I suspect, and indeed hope, he won’t be in goal vs Coventry.

On 17 minutes, it was the turn of the Betis keeper to make a cock up, passing out far too close to Tzolis, who had to stretch to cut out the pass and in doing so couldn’t kill the ball and take full advantage. 

Gyokeres did well to get a free kick on the right side of the box, holding off a Betican defender and being thrown to the floor judo-style.  Nwaneri did nothing from the resulting free kick. 

On 26 minutes, Betis went further ahead with a cracking 22 yarder. Kepa could do nothing about this one. 2-0. Great shot, but no pressure on the striker.

On 32 minutes, we crafted a good break resulting in a corner from Tzolis, after his shot was well blocked by a returning defender rapidly blocking his shot. 

From that corner, taken by Tzolis, the Betis keeper, presumably taking industrial action in support of his fellow goalkeeping union member, reprised our Keeper’s faux pas for the first goal and simply allowed Hincapié to nod in on the goal line.

The recovery wasn’t to last, though, and just before half time Betis scored again. Poor defending yet again, with Havertz simply gifting the ball to the Spaniards just outside our box allowing Fornals, formerly of the Stratford Relegationists, to drive home from the edge of the box, again unchallenged. Perhaps we were just trying to lull the rest of the Premier League into a false sense of security, after the excellence of our defending last season. 

Half time was called and thankfully fans in the ground could get a well deserved Guinness to take the edge off what had been a pretty incoherent first half display. 

For the second half there were lots of subs. 

On: Copley, Salmon, Jesùs, Gabriel, Martinelli, Nelson, Vieira.

Off: White, Dowman, Mosquera, Tzolis, Gyökeres, Hincapié, Havertz.

None of them made any difference whatsoever and, to be frank, nothing of any note happened in the second half, apart from a very unfortunate injury to Louie Copley who went down clearly in pain under the slightest challenge. I thought the way he went down merited the referee stopping the game, as it clearly did not look like a piece of play acting, but he played on for another minute anyway. Copley had to be carried off the pitch by two of The Pit Crew, not putting any weight on his leg and clearly in pain.

What else happened? Salmon was rightly booked for a foul having been badly skinned on 65 minutes, on the right wing (intelligent foul, showing maturity – ed). Ibrahim came on and gave a good cameo of the defensive midfield role. I like him. Gabriel and Martinelli came on at half time, somewhat curiously I thought, given they only returned to training late last week. I suspect this was a move by Arteta to help prevent a cricket score and in that regard it worked. They both went off after 30 minutes. 

Take aways:

We need to look at this through the lens of a pre-season friendly with the season kick off 2 weeks away. We were missing: Raya, Saliba, Timber, Ødegaard, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Madueke, Saka, Merino. And possibly new signings.

In the first half, everything good went through Lewis-Skelly, and there were a few good things. He was far and away our best player. He is clearly not a fringe player and looks seriously ready to play as a starter.

That said, this was really a chance for fringe players to stake a claim. Nwaneri, Nelson, Vieira in particular. In truth, none did. Nwaneri doesn’t look like the player he was 2 years ago. At times, Kepa makes Manuel Almunia look like Lev Yashin. The reserve keeper slot at the moment is up for grabs. From what I have seen of Tommy Settford in u-21 games, I’d be tempted to have him as stand in keeper.

Onward.

Posted in Match Report | 30 Drinks »

Best to Beat Betis, Boys!

Aug 4th, 2026 by

Real Betis Balompié S.A.D. is our next preseason opponent and for a reason that I have so far been unable to discover, we are playing them in Dublin. Could it have been arranged so that Andrew can just wander down the road (perhaps, via a familiar hostelry or two) to see his favourite team?

Betis, founded by students from the local polytechnic in 1907, hails from Seville and has a somewhat chequered history. Hence its motto: ¡Viva el Betis masque perda! (Long live Betis even when they lose!) The club’s name derives from Baetis, the Roman name for the region and for the Guadalquiver River that flows through Seville. The prefix ‘Real’ was added in 1914 following patronage from Alfonso XIII after a merger between Betis and Seville Balompié. The team initially played in blue shirts and white shorts but changed to green and white striped shirts matching the Andalusian flag, when the club captain, while studying in Scotland, obtained the material that Celtic used for their shirts but reorientated it to produce stripes rather than hoops. 

Betis won their only La Liga title in 1935 (under an Irish coach), three years after becoming the first Andalusian team to play in La Liga after they had won their first Segunda Divisiòn title in 1932. When La Liga resumed after the Spanish Civil War in 1939-40, the club was promptly relegated. Despite one season back in La Liga, decline continued and Betis was relegated to the Tercera Divisiòn where it languished for a decade. Many fans see this period as key to the ‘soul’ of the club during which it became renowned for filling its stadium and for its huge away support, known as the “Green March’. Betis returned to the Segunda Divisiòn in 1954 and to La Liga in 1958-59 peaking in third place in 1964, but subsequently became a ‘yo-yo club’ until consolidating a La Liga place in 1974-75 and winning the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao, 8-7, in 1977, after a 21 penalty shoot-out! The club won a second Copa del Rey in 2005, beating Osasuna 2-1 in extra time and finishing fourth in La Liga to become the first Andalusian club to qualify for the Champions League. However, Betis’ participation was unspectacular, apart from a 1-0 home win over Chelsea. The club finished third in its group and only reached the round of 16 in its subsequent participation in the UEFA Cup.

In the late noughties off-field financial issues rocked Betis but the teens saw the club achieve European qualification several times and under Manuel Pellegrini, who remains their coach, Betis won its third Copa del Rey in 2021 beating Valencia 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, its first trophy in 17 years. Pellegrini initiated a successful period for Betis, qualifying for the Europa League from its La Liga position for three consecutive seasons then qualifying for the Conference League and reaching the final only to lose to Chelsea 1-0. Betis qualified for this season’s Champions League for the second time in its history through last season’s fifth place finish in La Liga.

Thus, we can expect a sterner test from Betis whose 5th place last season with 60 points and a goal difference of +11 eclipses Girona’s 19th place finish with 41 points and -16 goal difference. A further benchmark, however, is the team that finished above Betis in fourth place with 69 points and a goal difference of +18 – Atlético Madrid, whom we tonked in the League Phase of last season’s Champions League and knocked out in the Semi-Final. Of course, neither of those clubs was within touching distance of La Liga champions Barcelona on 94 points.

Betis’ current first team squad includes several familiar faces. We can expect to see much loved alumnus Hector Bellerín play against Arsenal for the first time; now 31, he is listed as ‘third captain’. Two of the defenders had spells at Leeds United: centre back Diego Llorente, and left back Junior Firpo. Betis also has the much despised, Lo Celso, once of the Marshdwellers, and the tricky, ex-Hammer Pablo Fornals in midfield. Up front Betis has the even more despised Antony, once of Manure. You will probably also recognise Isco who spent 9 years in and around Real Madrid’s first team. This summer, Betis has added defensive midfielder Facundo Bernal from Fluminese for 10.5m Euros, left back Fran Garcia from Real Madrid for 4m Euros and goalkeeper Diego Conde on loan from Villareal.

The Betis starting line up is fairly predictable. Valles remains first choice goalkeeper ahead of newly arrived loanee Conde. The likely back four will comprise Bellerìn, whose overlapping threat remains a key strategy; centre back Llorente organises the back line; Natan, a physical, progressive stopper logged most starts last term; Garcia will replace the departed Rodriguez at left wing back; Bartra and Gomez provide defensive depth. Roca is first choice holding midfielder and the defensive anchor when fullbacks push forward; marquee signing Bernal will join Roca in a double-pivot; Isco, now 34, is the creative heart of the team with licence to roam; Lo Cesco and Fornals are alternatives in midfield providing energy centrally or out wide. Up front, the hapless Antony will hug the right touchline; Cucho Hernandéz, last season’s top scorer with 11 goals, provides the central attacking threat; speed-merchant Abde Essalzouli scored 10 league goals last season and offers raw pace and directness cutting in from the left. Losada and Petit offer striking depth and youthful energy.

Betis play a pragmatic, possession-based style under Pellegrini, typically adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation with a focus on wide overloads using wingers and full-backs, often rapidly switching play to the opposite wing when the opposition has been drawn to one side. Out of possession, they adopt a compact mid-block before initiating high pressure and falling back into a 4-4-1-1 if that pressure is bypassed. 

Mikel Arteta gave playing time to 24 of his 27-man squad in Girona, so it’s difficult to predict his starting eleven in Dublin. I thought I saw Martinelli among the players at the end of that game despite not being in the match day squad so he too may get minutes against Betis. However, I expect the starting eleven to be a similar to his choice for the Girona game, I.e:

Kepa

White Mosquera Hincapié Calafiori

MLS Havertz Nwaneri

Dowman Gyökeres Tzolis.

I do suspect Meslier may get the starting gloves ahead of Kepa, given how he excelled in his 30 minutes on Saturday.

Of course, the result doesn’t matter – this is all about developing match fitness, but it would be nice to maintain our winning momentum. How about 3-1 to the good guys?

Posted in Match Preview | 59 Drinks »

A Canter in Balmy Girona

Aug 2nd, 2026 by

The Premier League Champions kicked off their pre-season preparations with a 4-1 win over recently relegated Girona on a warm summer’s evening in Spain.

Despite many of our players going deep into the World Cup with their countries, Mikel Arteta was still able to name a very strong side from the start. Ben White, who missed the final couple of weeks of the season as well as the World Cup, was deemed fit enough to start. There were also starts for Piero Hincapié, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyökeres who had all been knocked out of the World Cup at the first knockout round. There was also a start on the right wing for the mercurial Max Dowman with Ethan Nwaneri playing in a central role. 

Arsenal looked sharp from the off and it only took a quarter of an hour to break the deadlock. Max Dowman got away brilliantly from two Girona players and split the defence with an exceptional through ball for Havertz who slotted away calmly into the bottom corner. It will be interesting to see how many minutes Dowman gets over the course of the season. Despite his age, he certainly played his role in our title winning campaign. His cameo won us the game against Everton in March and who knows how differently the season could’ve panned out had we dropped two points that day. At times he makes the wrong decision, but most 16-year-olds make bad decisions although most 16-year-olds don’t play for the Champions of England! 

As for Havertz, it’s a big season for him after missing so much of the last 18 months through injuries. He popped up with some massive goals towards the end of last season, and it appears that his finishing has really improved since he first joined three years ago. His goal in the Champions League Final was superb and would be talked about a lot more had we won. Let’s just pray he stays fit.

We doubled our lead on the half hour mark through our only outfield addition, (so far) Christos Tzolis. It took a slight deflection on the way through, but he showed some promising signs that he can provide some big moments for Arsenal. He was prolific with both goals and assists for Club Brugge so let’s hope the fella from Greece can emulate some of that over in N5.

Girona pulled one back five minutes into the second half from a corner which will have, no doubt, annoyed Arteta and Nicholas Jover but it only took a few minutes for us to restore our two goal cushion and, what a splendid goal it was from Max Dowman. He received the ball from Myles Lewis-Skelly, drove inside and flashed the ball home at the near post from about 20 yards out. What a prospect he is, if he continues on his current path. 

Moments later, it was four. After a mix up from Girona, Gabriel Jesùs found himself in acres of space and poked the ball home to wrap the game up beyond doubt. It will be interesting to see what happens to him over the next few weeks. He has a year left and is on hefty wages, although he is still capable of producing magical moments on occasion. 

Arteta made a raft of youthful substitutions in the final quarter of the game which is always nice to see. There was also a debut for Meslier in goal and whilst he certainly isn’t the most exciting signing we’ll ever make, he made some very impressive saves and his distribution looked up to scratch. 

After the game there was a trophy presentation, as there often is for these preseason games. We witnessed arguably the most lacklustre trophy lift of all time. Ben White could barely contain his excitement. At least there was no penalty shootout!

Overall, it was a good workout and whilst you can’t draw any real conclusions from preseason, we appear to be in a good place going into the season. We will face Real Betis in Dublin on Wednesday evening, followed by a couple of games at the Emirates against Borussia Dortmund and then Cesc Fabregas’ Como side in the annual Emirates Cup followed by the traditional Community Shield curtain raiser as the Premier League Champions take on a Manchester City side now managed by a slightly less odious bald man than the last one but still every bit as bald. That will be in Cardiff and not Wembley. 

Then five days later the Premier League Champions take on Fat Frank’s newly promoted Coventry City under the N5 lights. Will we have a couple of new Brazilians in the squad by then? Only time (and David Ornstein’s tweets) will tell……

Posted in Match Report | 38 Drinks »

Girona away for our preseason opener

Aug 1st, 2026 by

And so it begins.

The 2025-26 Premier League Champions travel to Catalonia this weekend to take on Girona FC at the Estadi Montilivi in our first preseason match, and our only away match before we go to Birmingham to face Villa in the league on the last day of August.

Girona
By the time Girona Futbol Club rose from the ashes of Unió Deportiva Girona in 1930 they’d spent most of their time in the lower reaches of non-professional football in Spain. While they rose to the Secunda División in 1935-36, they narrowly missed promotion that season. The Spanish Civil War interrupted all of Spanish football, and it would be another 81 years before they could manage to crack the ceiling and win promotion to Spain’s top flight.

Their 2017 promotion brought them to the attention of the City Football Group (the multi-armed kraken that owns Manchester City, NYCFC, Troyes, and Palermo, among others), who purchased 44% (now 47%) of the club and invested substantially in their training facilities. Success was not instant. After two years in La Liga Girona was relegated in 2019, leading to three years in the Nah Liga wilderness. Promotion in 2022 brought improvement each year in La Liga; finishing 3rd in 2024 earning automatic qualification to the Champions League in 2024-25. Our preseason match is the second Arsenal have played at the Estadi Montilivi; our first was in the Champions League league phase, in January, 2025, where we came from behind and ran out 2-1 winners on goals from Jorghino and Nwaneri. With only 3 points from 8 games, including losses to PSG, Liverpool, and AC Milan, Girona finshed 33d of the 36 teams.

And so, despite the heightened level of investment the Blanquivermells are coming off a year that ended in even more disappointment. After four years in La Liga, and sixteen months after they last played Champions League football, they were relegated by drawing Elche in the last game of the season (Girona would have stayed up had they won).

While players like Marc-André ter Stegen (whose loan from Barcelona ended), Vitor Reis, Claudio Echeverri, Hugo Rincon, and Thomas Lemar have all departed Girona this Summer, there are some players whom are recognizable: Donny van de Beek, Bryan Gil, Paulo Gazzaniga, and Alex Moreno all have Premier League experience. Others were involved in that league phase game, including 3/4 of their defense, and 2/3 of their forward players. Notable among them is ex-Barcelona Spanish international Abel Ruiz, who we can expect to lead the line on Saturday.

Arsenal
While it is just one game, it looks like we’re taking a rather thin squad on the trip, with only 5 first-team defenders, including those who are recovering from injury (White, Timber); Saliba and Gabriel are either too injured or too fatigued to make this trip. New signings Meslier and Tzolis are on the plane, as are loan returnees Nelson and Vieira. Gyökeres, Havertz, Martinelli, and Hincapié have made it to Spain upon their return from the World Cup, whereas Saka, Rice, Eze, Madueke, Raya, Merino, Zubimendi, and Ødegaard are still in recovery after their exertions in the Americas.

Fortunately, Arteta decided to fill the emergency raft with 11 of our up-and-coming youth, including Dowman, Salmon, Harriman-Annous, Kabia, and Ibrahim, all of whom have made their first team debuts. Besides Salmon, any of Clarke, Ogunnaike, or even Julienne can play at various positions in our back line. O’Neill, Ranson, and Augustien can play in midfield or up front.

So what will our lineup be? Impossible to say, especially since there will probably be wholesale changes at halftime. Nonetheless I hope we won’t see any of White or Timber, which would leave us to start the game with something like the following:

Kepa
Salmon – Mosquera – Calafiori – Hincapié
MLS – Nwaneri – Vieira
Dowman – Gyökeres – Tzolis

Whom Arteta mixes and matches after that (assuming those wholesale changes) is hard to say. We should certainly see a debut for Meslier (sorry Setford, you’re hard done by), and perhaps some final Arsenal playing time for Nelson, Jesus, and Nørgaard. I’d like to see how Harriman-Annous is coming along, and both Kabia and Ibrahim showed promise last season…let’s hope they can use this preseason to push their way into Arteta’s plans for the coming year.

The ‘Holics Pound
Kind of silly, right? I think, if I had to, and without knowing the odds, I’d put a punt on Dowman to score, and maybe parlay that with a goal from Gyökeres, maybe even on an assist from Tzolis. I just hope we get a good run-out, a good look at the young’uns, some shop window time for our probably departees, and no injuries. After all, isn’t that the point of this type of exercise at this stage of the (pre)season?

COYG!

Posted in Match Preview | 39 Drinks »

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