Girona vs Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to spell 2 for 2 astatine the commencement of pre-season, Premier League champions Arsenal play their archetypal authoritative accumulation crippled of the summertime connected Saturday, erstwhile they reunite with 2024-25 Champions League foes Girona astatine Estadio Montilivi.

The Gunners eased past MK Dons 3-0 down closed doors a fewer days ago, portion their Spanish hosts person produced the dictionary explanation of a mixed container of pre-season results frankincense far.

Match preview

While Arsenal fans everyplace were whipped into a Vinicius Junior transportation frenzy past weekend, Mikel Arteta's hotch-potch squad - missing a plethora of players who progressed to the second stages of the World Cup - started pre-season successful the champion way; by out-gunning Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal's bitterest rivals could lone enactment 1 extremity past MK Dons astatine their grooming centre, but the English champions deed the League One broadside for 3 without reply, courtesy of strikes from Reiss Nelson, Ethan Nwaneri and 18-year-old striker Ceadach O'Neill.

Forgotten winger Nelson - 1 of respective candidates for a summertime transportation - was teed up by caller winger Christos Tzolis, registering his archetypal unofficial assistance successful Arsenal colours aft mounting up a sensational 29 goals for Club Brugge past season, portion scoring 22 of his own.

Sporting manager Andrea Berta nevertheless continues his tireless hunt for different attacking upgrade, but chances of a blockbuster woody for Vini Jr - whose precedence is inactive to hold a caller Real Madrid declaration - look slim, portion Newcastle United proceed to play hardball successful Bruno Guimaraes negotiations.

Arteta addressed Arsenal's deficiency of transportation activity straight aft landing successful Girona, wherever they volition play the 2nd of 5 summertime friendlies earlier gathering Real Betis, Borussia Dortmund - successful the Emirates Cup - and Cesc Fabregas's Como aboriginal successful August. 

Only 18 months person passed since Arsenal and Girona squared disconnected successful Europe's premier competition, successful which the Blanquivermells gave the Gunners a scare earlier Nwaneri and Jorginho's strikes proved decisive successful a 2-1 Champions League win.

However, portion Arsenal person present conquered their dominion, Girona volition not adjacent beryllium contiguous successful the apical formation of Spanish shot adjacent season, arsenic their 19th-placed La Liga decorativeness successful 2025-26 ended a four-year enactment successful the apical division.

The hosts had flirted with relegation the twelvemonth earlier - ending up successful 16th successful 2024-25 aft a stunning third-placed ranking successful 2023-24 - and long-serving manager Michel, who primitively took Girona backmost to the apical tier from the Segunda Division, has made mode for Quique Alvarez.

The erstwhile Barcelona academy postgraduate and Villarreal stalwart has overseen an mean commencement to pre-season, arsenic the Blanquivermells person beaten Olot 3-1, mislaid 1-0 to Alaves and drawn 3-3 with Castellon successful their 3 warm-up matches frankincense far.

Arsenal volition supply Girona's lone planetary contention this summer, arsenic Alvarez's men circular disconnected pre-season against Sabadell and Gimnastic, earlier hosting Leganes successful their LaLiga2 opener connected August 16.

Girona affable form:

Arsenal affable form:

Team News

A show for sore Arsenal eyes, Ben White and Jurrien Timber were pictured boarding the level to Spain aft their terrible genu and groin injuries respectively, but Timber has present returned to London to proceed his rehabilitation.

The Gunners are already missing chap defender William Saliba - apt for a fig of months - owed to the long-standing backmost wounded helium exacerbated successful France's World Cup semi-final nonaccomplishment to Spain, truthful 16-year-old Marli Salmon could beryllium fixed a run-out successful defence.

Piero Hincapie, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres person each joined up with the squad aft their World Cup 2026 exploits, portion Fabio Vieira is besides contiguous contempt the anticipation that helium volition implicit a imperishable determination distant successful the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, lone 1 existing Girona subordinate was summoned for the World Cup successful Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, who remains connected a well-earned interruption aft helping the Atlas Lions scope the quarter-finals.

Ounahi is 1 of a fewer notable names inactive connected the books contempt Girona's relegation, a database that besides includes Ukrainian attackers Vladyslav Vanat and Viktor Tsygankov, and one-time Tottenham Hotspur winger Bryan Gil.

Forgotten antheral Donny van de Beek besides sports the reddish and achromatic stripes, but the Manchester United flop played conscionable 2 matches successful the 2025-26 play owed to a superior Achilles injury; helium astatine slightest managed 45 minutes against Castellon connected Wednesday.

Girona imaginable starting lineup:

Krapyvytsov; A. Martinez, Lopez, Yaakobishvili, Moreno; Beltran, Martin; Camara, Misehouy, Gil; Vanat

Arsenal imaginable starting lineup:

Kepa; Mosquera, Salmon, Calafiori, Hincapie; Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard; Dowman, Nwaneri, Tzolis; Jesus 

We say: Girona 1-2 Arsenal

Still boasting eye-catching and in-form attacking endowment - Vanat netted doubly successful the gully with Castellon - Girona person the tools to occupation a second-string Arsenal broadside with a makeshift backline.

However, Alvarez's broadside are yet to support a cleanable expanse successful pre-season, and the Gunners' violative prime with Nwaneri, Max Dowman and caller lad Tzolis should radiance through.

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