What to expect when the Gunners’ USA Tour wraps-up in Stan’s SoFi Stadium on Wednesday night

Arsenal will face another big preseason test on Wednesday night against Spainish giants Barcelona in the spaceship, SoFi Stadium in LA.

The Gunners were far from impressive on Saturday v Manchester United, so Mikel Arteta will expect a lot more from his players as their USA Tour draws to a close.

After four preseason matches, the Gunners have 1 win, 2 draws and a defeat. 7 goals for, 4 against.

Obviously, the three new signings are still in their “getting to know phase,” however, with only 13 days left before facing Manchester City in the Community Shield, the lads will be under pressure to find their footing and gear-up for the match-up at Wembley, and the long season that follows.

I’ve been reading a lot of posts since the Man United defeat, and far too many people have already hit the panic button. I mean, come on, yes the squad was manhandled in New York City by the Red Deils, however, that doesn’t mean that game will sit the tone for the entire season. That’s ludicrous. There’s bound to be a few bumps in the road, especially in preseason. As they say in New York, “Fuhgeddaboudit!”

I don’t expect the engine to be up and running on all eight cylinders either v Man City or Nottingham Forest, however, I do expect the engine to be in 4th gear, and with the pedal to the metal.

With that said, here’s I predict Arteta will keep working his #1 starting XI (minus Zinchenko) v Barcelona…

[4-3-3]

Martinelli, Jesus, Saka

Rice, Odegaard, Havertz

Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber

Ramsdale

Predicted final score: ARSENAL 2 – Barcelona 2

COYG!

Gunner1953