Arsenal completed their tour to Asia with a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspurs in the first ever North London derby played outside the Europe. The Gunners had played AC Milan and Newcastle United in Singapore before facing city rivals in Hong Kong.
Softfootball watched all the games as the Arsenal played in the cheers of their fans in Asia. They had defeated AC Milan 1-0 in regulation time and defeated Newcastle United with a late penalty from Martin Odegaard. Although their only loss in Asia came at the hands of Pape Sarrs tricky goal from halfway line .
The matches saw Arsenal also hand debuts to all their new buys - Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Crithian Mosquera, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Viktor Gyokeres. Only Noni Madueke who is still on extended holiday missed out in action.
Arteta was somewhat pleased with the preparation and the qualities he saw in the matches. While speaking on the preseason tour to the Arsenal media via the club website , the gaffer sounded satisfied.
Arteta explained:
On the attitude of all the new players in preseason, the gaffer explained that he was surprised with their response.
He shared that:
The Arsenal return to London with the Emirates Cup next in the calendar as they face Villareal and Athletic Club Bilbao as the opponents at the Emirates stadium.