London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea put down the curtains to their International Champions Cup campaign with a match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on August 1, 2018.
Both Northern and Southern Londoners have new managers entering the coming season and both Maurizio Sarri and Unai Emery. Sari has been in place for just over two weeks and he is left with little time to prepare for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal has added five new players and there are rumors that more are coming. There isn’t too much pressure put on Unai Emery but with both managers ager to make the first mark in what should be an open Premier League affair, this match promises to be an interesting one.
Arsenal heads to Dublin riding high on their morale boosting 5-1 victory over Paris St. Germain the last time out in Singapore. It was a reunion of sorts for Unai Emery who faced the squad he led last season. By virtue of a stronger 11, Arsenal took the early advantage and never looked back.
Chelsea got off to a strong start against Inter Milan. After Alvaro Morata’s header was nullified following an offside call, Pedro scored for the Gunners barely three minutes later. Tiémoué Bakayoko’s error early in the second half allowed Roberto Gagliardini to feed off Mauri Icardo who tied the game. In the penalty session, Caballero proved to be the hero for Chelsea as he saved a penalty kick from Milan Skriniar to give his team a 5-4 win on penalties after a 1-1 tie.
Jorginho is the player whom Chelsea’s new manager is likely building his new team around. The Brazilian was the only player to play the full 90 minutes against Inter Milan and he should be the key to Chelsea’s success next season.
Chelsea will be playing without Kurt Zouma with the defender being ruled out of the 2018 International Champions Cup with an injury. For Arsenal, only Lucas Torreira and Danny Welbeck have not returned after playing in the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup for Uruguay and England, respectively. Torreira has reportedly flown back to London and could possibly join his squad on Wednesday.
Ross Barkley and Pedro have enjoyed having plenty of minutes recently and they should be looking to impress too on Wednesday. Callum Hudson-Odoi has played nicely in the absence of Eden Hazard during preseason and has caught the eye after very impressive performances in recent weeks. He could very well play alongside Ethan Ampadu in Wednesday’s contest.
Arsenal are expected to field in a strong starting line-up which should include new signees Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Matteo Guendouzi. Guendouzi stands out among the new players to arrive at Islington as he is off to a fast start. Guendouzi isn’t likely to get a spot as a regular in Arsenal’s first team once Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira join the team but Wednesday’s game is a huge opportunity for him to prove that he belongs.
Here are the Tour squads for both teams in the 2018 International Champions Cup:
Petr Cech, Bernd Leno, Emiliano Marinez
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Calum Chambers, Sead Kolasinac, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Shkodran Mustafi, Jordi Osei-Tutu
Mohamed Elneny, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsay, Mesut Ozil, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Matteo Guendouzi, Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock
Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Iwobi, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah
Marcin Bulka, Jared Thompson, Bradley Collins, Willy Caballero
David Luiz, Ethan Ampadu, Fikayo Tomori, Michael Hector, Tomas Kalas, Marcos Alonso, Emerson, Davide Zappacosta, Ola Aina
Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, Mario Pasalic, Jorginho, Kasey Palmer, Pedro, Lucas Piazon, Charly Musonda Jr.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Alvaro Morata, Tammy Abraham
Real Madrid leads Manchester United in these contests, with five wins in their previous eleven meetings. Manchester has only won twice with the remaining four games ending in a draw. Manchester United has lost their last two fixtures against Real Madrid and the last time Manchester United beat the Spanish side was in 2003.
The Gunners lead the overall series between these squads at 76 to 62. Both sides figured in a draw in another 57 meetings.
This fixture could turn out to a fast and furious contest with both sides likely going to employ an aggressive attacking style. With both teams out to impress their new managers, this fixture could be played with more than the regular preseason vibe.
It’s the squad from Northern London who has more firepower available for this contest and they should come away with the victory in a closely fought match. We’re picking Arsenal to beat Chelsea on 8/1/18.
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