Arsenal round off their pre-season with a friendly against north London rivals Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this Sunday.
It concludes the Islington Mind Series in which Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham compete against each other to raise awareness for mental health.
Arsenal so far have had an up-and-down pre-season, having beaten both Watford and Millwall, drawn to Rangers, and lost to Chelsea and Hibernian.
The latest game was a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates this past Sunday.
New signing Ben White made his debut for Arsenal, coming off the bench to play the second half in front of fans at Emirates Stadium.
The main concern from the game was a first half ankle injury to Thomas Partey.
Mikel Arteta said the injury “is not looking good”, and could mean Partey misses the start of the season.
Tottenham themselves have had a turbulent off-season, having sacked Jose Mourinho in mid-April and taking until June 30 to appoint new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, following failed talks with a number of other managers.
Their most critical situation revolves around Harry Kane, who failed to turn up to Tottenham training ground for a Covid test ahead of his return to training.
It looks as if Kane wants to leave this summer amid a potential £100 million bid from Manchester City, but Chairman Daniel Levy will do everything to keep him.
The long wait for a manager and their best player engineering a potential move away leaves Tottenham in a difficult situation.
Tottenham’s main business has been signing young Spanish winger Bryan Gil for £22.5 million plus Erik Lamela, bringing in goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini on loan from Atalanta and selling veteran centre back Toby Alderweireld to Qatari side Al-Duhail SC.
Tottenham have also been reportedly chasing a centre back as their marquee signing of the summer, with Atalanta’s Christian Romero their current priority.
The addition of a top-quality centre back would go a long way to bolstering Nuno’s new Tottenham side.
Despite offseason issues, both Arsenal and Tottenham look set to battle for top six once again.
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