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Arsenal and Liverpool to play winter break friendlies in Dubai during World Cup

talksport.com, 15 October 2022, 13:12
Arsenal and Liverpool are set to take on Lyon in Dubai during the World Cup in a series of friendlies during the winter break.

The Premier League giants will face the French side between December 5 and 12, with club sides out of action for the Qatar tournament.

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The World Cup takes place from November 20 to December 18 with the Premier League pausing on November 13 and resuming on Boxing Day.

Both Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta are two of the first to take early advantage of the time off, with Le Progres in France reporting their friendlies are set to be announced.

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Seven-time Ligue 1 winners Lyon have recently brought Manchester United and France great Laurent Blanc as their new manager, and possess former Gunner Alexandre Lacazette, as well as ex-Manchester City defender Jerome Boateng.

As members of the Premier League's so-called 'big six', both teams will be without a number of stars who are heading to Qatar, but could still field decent line-ups.

League leaders Arsenal are certain to be without the likes of Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka who will be away with England and Switzerland respectively, while Brazilian trio Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes are expected to return to Tite's squad.

But Arteta could still hand valuable game time to players such as Kieran Tierney and Eddie Nketiah, while 15-year-old academy star Ethan Nwaneri could see more action.

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Liverpool will lose a flood of players including Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino to Brazil, Virgil van Dijk to the Netherlands and Diogo Jota to Portugal.

Captain Jordan Henderson is likely to be away with England, but Trent Alexander-Arnold could well be left out of Gareth Southgate's side.

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It means the right-back could gain valuable friendly game time during the winter alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, whose national teams Egypt and Colombia failed to qualify.

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