Arsenal will square off against Barcelona in a mouth-watering pre-season 2023 friendly at SoFi Stadium in California. The Arsenal vs Barcelona pre-season friendly will start at 8:00 AM IST on Thursday, July 27.
Under the tutelage of manager Mikel Arteta, Arsenal will play their fourth pre-season fixture of 2023 versus Barcelona in the United States.
In a behind-closed-doors friendly, Mikel Arteta’s men started their pre-season 2023 with a 1-1 draw against Championship side Watford at their London Colney training base.
The Gunners were later held to a 1-1 draw against German outfit FC Nürnberg in their first official friendly clash at the Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg, Germany.
Arsenal then kicked off their US tour in emphatic fashion as they thrashed the MLS All-Stars side 5-0 at Audi Field in Washington.
However, the North London giants suffered their first defeat of their 2023 pre-season as they went down 0-2 to Premier League rivals Manchester United. They also lost 3-5 to Manchester United in a post-game shoot-out.
On the other hand, reigning La Liga champions Barcelona were forced to cancel their first pre-season fixture against Juventus as a significant part of the Blaugrana squad was affected by a viral gastroenteritis. Barcelona have reportedly lost around €2 million due to the cancellation of the Juventus game.
The Catalan giants will hope that their players will recover in time before facing Arsenal in their second Soccer Champions Tour 2023 fixture.
Arsenal vs Barcelona head-to-head
Barcelona have dominated Arsenal in official European fixtures, winning six of the nine matches that they have clashed so far. Arsenal have managed just a solitary victory while two matches have ended in stalemates.
The two sides last met in the Joan Gamper Trophy in 2019 with Barcelona registering a 2-1 win at Camp Nou.
Arsenal squad vs Barcelona
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Alex Runarsson, Karl Hein
Defenders: William Saliba, Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Auston Trusty, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Midfielders: Martin Odegaard, Jorginho, Fabio Vieira, Mohamed Elneny, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice
Forwards: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard, Folarin Balogun, Marquinhos, Amario Cozier-Duberry
Barcelona squad vs Arsenal
Goalkeepers: Ter Stegen, Iñaki Peña, Ander Astralaga
Defenders: Araujo, Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Koundé, Eric Garcia, Iñigo Martínez, Lenglet, Mika Faye, Alex Valle, Julian Araujo
Midfielders: Oriol Romeu, Pedri, Franck Kessié, Sergi Roberto, De Jong, Gündogan, Gavi, Marc Casadó, Fermín López, Aleix Garrido
Forwards: Ousmane Dembélé, Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Ez Abde
Where to watch Arsenal vs Barcelona pre-season friendly live in India?
Live streaming of Arsenal vs Barcelona pre-season friendly will be available on Arsenal.com and the Arsenal app.
There will be no live telecast of Arsenal vs Barcelona pre-season friendly on any TV channel in India.
Photo credit: Alamy
