It’s the final friendly of the 2025 pre season today and it’s The Emirates Cup for Arteta and his lads.

I have to say I preferred the old Emirates Cup format of two matches per day and played over the Saturday and Sunday, but they keep it to one these days and there’s probably a conditioning reason behind that. What it does mean is that Arteta has 90+ minutes of semi competitive football to use now before we play United next weekend and it’s this game that makes me think that he might go full strength for a little longer than he has been so far. Up until this point in pre season he’s tended to have half-and-half rotated teams with some of the squad rotation players starting in amongst those players who would be regulars.

Today we – and probably he – need to see how the first XI get on and so I’m hoping to see a line up which looks a little like this:

Raya

White – Saliba – Gabriel – Lewis-Shelly

Zubimendi

Ødegaard – Rice

Saka – Gyokeres – Martinelli

That I think is our strongest starting XI given some of the absences we have. I suspect Arteta might play Havertz if he was fully fit but even if he can only get 30 minutes out of him today I suspect he’ll do that for Kai and then if Kai is fine thereafter I suspect it’ll be him who will start at Old Trafford instead of Big Vik. We know how much Arteta loves Kai and despite the fact we’ve got a shiny new number nine who everyone wants to see more of, let’s not forget how far Kai has come since he signed and how much we missed him last season when he wasn’t leading the line. Gyokeres might well over the season take more game time up top, but I think it’s Havertz’s shirt to lose when the proper stuff kicks off and then we’ll let the battle for the starting jersey kick off in earnest.

Potentially you could make a case for Madueke instead of Martinelli on the left, or Trossard if fit, but I suspect Arteta will stick with the Brazilian because, like Kai, he has the starter jersey for now. If Leo isn’t 100% that also has an impact today.

And then it becomes about getting plenty of minutes in the legs and so I would hope that at least two-thirds of today’s game involves those players, before Arteta looks for that mass rotation, which would be the likes of Kai, Leo, Merino, probably Madueke, then perhaps if fit Calafiori getting 20-30 minutes and maybe Timber too. But for the vast bulk we need to see the regulars and as Arteta said on Tuesday, we need to have the comfort within us that these guys are ready for Man United at Old Trafford next Sunday.

Maybe we’ll also get to see Nwaneri with some minutes too, as the 18-year-old officially confirmed that he’s put pen to paper and signed a new five-year deal. That is super stuff. There was some slight concern earlier in the summer that things had stalled, but clearly that was not the case and we find ourselves keeping one of the biggest teenage talents in the game for the foreseeable future.

I think with the emergence of Dowman in these pre season games, a lot of people have been distracted by the fact that in Nwaneri we already have a teenager who is oven-ready for the Premier League this season. He bagged some of the most goals in the whole squad last season and given that he was used sparingly for the first half of it, I don’t think that can be underestimated. He’s exciting, he’s a direct runner with the ball, he’s got a good finish on him and it feels after last season as though he’s ‘arrived’. He’s just come off the back of a good under-21s season and my hope for him this season is that he’s going to bang as Ødegaard’s understudy.

And that’s exciting because I think last season Arteta wasn’t sure and that’s why when Martin got injured we tried a few things that didn’t work. This season I think Arteta will have no hesitation in saying “Ethan, Martin’s out for the next few weeks, you’re in”. Off the ball he probably needs to align himself a little closer in his pressing to what Ødegaard does, but that’s something that can be taught, because on the ball he just needs to keep doing what he was doing last season.

He has also proven his versatility too. He played on the right as Saka’s understudy towards the end of the season, he’s played up top in youth football and Arteta has mentioned that he can be an option there, but I suspect he could also do a very good job at left wing too. He might find those wide positions a little more congested to get into this season with Madueke there, but at least we have another very viable option and I don’t think you will find a displeased Arsenal fan today upon hearing the news of his contract renewal.

Right, that’ll do from me today. I’m in Norfolk seeing friends and when the game is on I’ll be on a little boat having some sundowners on the Broads, but will keep track of the game when I get signal.

Catch you all tomorrow.