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Steffen Schmidt - July 26, 2023
Arsenal vs Barcelona
Club Friendlies
Date: 27 July 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 03:30 UK / 04:30 CET
Venue: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood).
Arsenal will be hoping to rebound from an unpleasant 2-0 loss to Manchester United in a friendly played five days ago in New Jersey.
They take on Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona on Wednesday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The Gunners should go into this as the favorites for the win after a massive stomach virus among Barcelona’s stars caused Blaugrana’s weekend exhibition against Juventus to be called off.
We don’t know specific names affected by the virus but some legitimate Spanish journalists argue that as many as 15 first-team regulars are dealing with the issue right now.
It remains to be seen which players head coach Xavi will be able to count on for this game. With this in mind, we have to fancy Arsenal to get a result on Wednesday.
The Gunners had been unbeaten in three straight friendlies before the defeat to the Red Devils five days ago.
Their three big-money signings were all in the starting XI on the occasion, including Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Jurrien Timber.
Mikel Arteta practically has the full squad available except for the likes of Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
We can expect the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Ben White, Fabio Vieira, and Kieran Tierney to all return to the starting XI after beginning the clash against Man United from the bench.
Barcelona’s stars are going through rough times with the stomach virus and we have to favor Arsenal to get a result on Wednesday. The Gunners are well worth backing at the 2.30 odds.
Alternatively, we like the 1.75 odds offered for the Over 2.5 goals FT pick given this is an exhibition game and given that both outfits possess immense firepower on display in the final third.
