Arsenal vs. Singapore Select XI: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream & TV
Arsenal have jetted to Asia to begin their preseason campaign, and their first fixture of the 2015/16 preseason will see them face off against a specially selected Singapore Select XI in the Asia Trophy Semi-final.
The Gunners are not up against a national team in the traditional sense. This Singapore squad contains regular Singapore internationals as well as selected foreign players from the domestic S.League. The 23-man squad that has been named includes four foreign participants.
Arsene Wenger, who was once resistant to these kinds of foreign tours, seems excited by the trip to Singapore. He told Arsenal.com:
"I'm happy to be in Singapore. I have been here before, I know it's a very good place, a very safe place and usually things are well organised. So we can hope to have a good combination of competition and preparation in our training sessions, as well as good conditions in our hotel, which is important.
"
As for the fixture itself, the Arsenal boss insists his squad will take it relatively seriously:
"We want to win every game. A few years ago nobody was interested in these games but now there is so much interest in the preparation that if you do not win these games it's already a crisis! It's important that you start on a positive foot.
"
The winner of this match will take on against one of Everton or Stoke in the Asia Trophy Final later this week.
Date: Wednesday July 15
Time: This match kicks off at 8.30 p.m. local time - 1.30 p.m. BST
Location: Singapore National Stadium
Television coverage: SkySports 1 (UK), NBC Sports Live Extra & NBC Universo (U.S.)
Streaming: SkyPlayer (UK)
Team News
Arsenal have taken a strong squad to Asia, with only Alexis Sanchez, David Ospina and Serge Gnabry yet to join up with the senior squad. There are a couple of injury absentees—Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky stand out—but this is close to a complete roster.
Arsenal squad for Asia Trophy: Chuba Akpom, Mikel Arteta, Hector Bellerin, Santi Cazorla, Petr Cech, Calum Chambers, Francis Coquelin, Dan Crowley, Mathieu Debuchy, Mathieu Flamini, Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs, Olivier Giroud, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny, Emiliano Martinez, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Wojciech Szczesny, Theo Walcott, Chris Willock, Jack Wilshere, Gedion Zelalem
Wenger will probably want to give Petr Cech his first run-out in an Arsenal shirt. With Alexis still on holiday, Oxlade-Chamberlain appears the most likely candidate to fill in on the flank.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Ramsey, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Walcott
Although this is just a friendly, the Singapore Select XI are likely to flood the midfield in an attempt to contain a technically superior Arsenal side.
Predicted Singapore Select XI (4-5-1): Azwan Mahbud; Nazrul Nazar, Sirina Camara, Kento Fukuda, Shakir Hamzah; Nicholas Velez, Yasir Hanapi, Zulfahmi Arifin, Gabriel Quak, Faris Ramli; Rodrigo Tosi
Players to watch
Arsenal: Petr Cech
All eyes will be on the former Chelsea man as he takes to the field in an Arsenal shirt for the first time. It’s not certain that Cech will start the game, but any part he plays will be scrutinised by Gunners fans eager to see how he is settling into his new club.
Singapore Select XI: Nicholas Velez
Argentine attacking midfielder Velez grew up an Arsenal fan, so this will be a massive game for him. He told the Straits Times about his curious mix of emotions, saying: "It's going to be a bit strange playing against Arsenal because I really like Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez. But I will have to focus, try to help the team and repay coach Sundram [V. Sundramoorthy] for calling me up."
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
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