Arsenalvs.Lyon

The Gunners coincidentally defeated French opposition in Monaco to clinch the 2023 crown, although their visitors are the last foreign team to take the exhibition title.

Match preview

Despite emulating Arsenal's Invincibles feats 20 years on from the Arsene Wenger crop of 2003-04, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen were dealt an extremely harsh reality check at the Emirates on Wednesday evening, where Mikel Arteta's rampant charges hit them for four.

As has been the case throughout the Spaniard's reign, the goals were shared around in front of a 50,000-strong crowd, where Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus ensured that an Adam Hlozek strike would be nothing more than scant consolation.

In typical Arteta fashion, the ex-Everton midfielder - reuniting with good friend and former Merseyside derby rival Alonso in midweek - insisted that the Gunners still have plenty of room for improvement, even after humbling a side who dropped just 12 league points in 2023-24.

Making a swift return to Emirates soil before their Premier League opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 17, Arsenal are unsurprisingly the most successful team in Emirates Cup history, hoisting the trophy aloft on seven occasions down the years.

Monaco were the most recent victims of Arteta's outfit in the friendly tournament, going down on penalties last year after the Gunners' 6-0 dismantling of Sevilla in 2022, although the hosts now square up to technically the most successful foreign side since the competition's inauguration in 2007.

Indeed, Lyon are just one of five non-English sides to deny Arsenal their customary pre-season crown, overcoming an Unai Emery-led side in 2019 to emulate New York Red Bulls, Hamburger SV, Galatasaray and Valencia in tournaments gone by.

Lofty highs and lowly lows have been achieved by Les Gones since their last appearance in the exhibition encounter, and after briefly flirting with an unthinkable relegation from Ligue 1 last summer, an unheralded name in Pierre Sage steered the ship to calmer seas.

From battling in the lower echelons of the table to storming to the unlikeliest of Europa League qualifications - thanks in no small part to the goalscoring feats of former Arsenal skipper Alexandre Lacazette - Lyon also have a drubbing of a German team on their pre-season record book.

Les Gones head to North London on the back of a 4-0 crushing of Union Berlin on August 3, where another erstwhile Gunner - Ainsley Maitland-Niles - was on the scoresheet, alongside a Gift Orban brace and a strike from one-time West Ham United man Said Benrahma.

Sunday's contest is also Lyon's final tune-up fixture before an intriguing trip to Rennes in their Ligue 1 opener on August 18, and Les Gones only have two previous competitive meetings with Arsenal in their annals, losing 2-1 over two fixtures in the 2000-01 Champions League second group stage.

Arsenal friendly form:

Lyon friendly form:

Team News

In addition to the injured Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), fellow full-backs Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber were not involved in the crushing of Leverkusen; the latter is nursing a minor foot issue and should not be risked here either.

Meanwhile, Arteta did not consider Calafiori for his debut as he slowly adapts to life in England, and while the Gunners boss is confident that the Italian can make his non-competitive debut on Sunday, it is highly unlikely to be from the off.

However, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka completed 45 minutes of the midweek triumph and might return to their rightful roles in the first XI, which spells bad news for Jorginho and Fabio Vieira if Arteta persists with Havertz in a deeper role.

The North London giants will not be reuniting with ex-skipper Lacazette, though, as the Lyon leader is bidding to captain the France Olympic team to the gold medal in Friday's final against Spain, where Rayan Cherki and Johann Lepenant could also be involved.

Young goalkeeper Lassine Diarra represented Mali at the competition and will be given more time to recuperate too, but Arsenal academy graduate Maitland-Niles ought to be named in the first XI against his former side.

In Lacazette's absence, Georges Mikautadze - who took home one-sixth of the Euro 2024 Golden Boot with three goals to his name - starts up top, while Nemanja Matic is still kicking in midfield at 36.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Mata, Caleta-Car, Niakhate, Abner; Mangala, Matic, Caqueret; Maitland-Niles, Mikautadze, Benrahma

We say: Arsenal 3-1 Lyon

Gooners could be forgiven for expecting a shellacking given the manner of their defeat against Leverkusen, and goals should be a guarantee at the Emirates once again, especially with Arteta boasting all of his prolific attacking options once more.

Sage's Lyon are not to be taken lightly whatsoever and can capitalise on Arsenal's backline absences too, but the Emirates Cup should stay in North London for another year.

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