Overview
At the height of their excitement after successfully recruiting Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal had to go through a difficult match against Newcastle. On the day the Swedish striker debuted in Singapore, the "Gunners" struggled to defeat their opponents with a score of 3-2.
Including the victory over Watford at London Colney, Arsenal have had a perfect record with 3 wins in all of their friendlies this summer.
The Gunners are preparing to end their tour in Asia, before hosting Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao at Emirates Stadium in the near future.
Both Arsenal and Tottenham are aiming to maintain an unbeaten record in friendly matches in Hong Kong (China).
However, while the "Gunners" have had many reasons to be proud up to this point, coach Thomas Frank's team has only had to accept defeat at home.
The Danish strategist's reign started smoothly with a 2-0 victory over Reading - a team competing in League One. However, two different Spurs teams facing Wycombe Wanderers and Luton Town on July 26 could not win.
Pape Sarr's double only helped Spurs get a 2-2 draw at Wycombe's field. Meanwhile, around 10,000 fans at Kenilworth Road witnessed a boring goalless match between Spurs and Luton Town.
The news of Morgan Gibbs-White renewing his contract with Nottingham Forest further reduces Tottenham's spirit. However, the 10-day time away from the familiar environment may be an opportunity for Frank and his students to regain motivation.
Spurs will also face Newcastle in South Korea on August 3, before meeting Harry Kane - currently playing for Bayern Munich - in the Telekom Cup 4 days later.
However, Tottenham's immediate task is to end a 3-year winless streak against Arsenal - a team they have not beaten since the 2021-2022 Premier League season. They have lost all three of their most recent encounters against their city rivals.
Personnel situation
There is now a question for Arsenal: will Gyokeres make his debut against Tottenham?
Arteta has often been cautious when asked directly about the issue last week. However, with the Swedish having trained with the whole team, his ability to play officially is very high.
The same situation happened to rookie Cristhian Mosquera, who was not considered ready to play against Newcastle. The former Valencia player will have a chance to participate, especially when Riccardo Calafiori was injured in the previous match.
On the other side of the front line, Tottenham will leave behind 6 injured players in England, including Bryan Gil, Manor Solomon, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin, destiny Udogie and rookie Kota Takai.
Young players Mikey Moore, Alfie devine and Dane Scarlett were also left out of the squad. However, the £55 million player, Mohamed Kudus, is still in the squad, along with captain Son Heung-min.
Expected lineup:
Arsenal: Kepa, White, Saliba, Mosquera, Zinchenko, Nwaneri, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Maddison, Bentancur, Sarr, Kudus, Solanke, Son Heung-min.
The match between Arsenal and Tottenham takes place at 6:30 p.m. on July 31 (Vietnam time).
