Benfica v Arsenal Preview

Benfica v Arsenal, Saturday 6th August, 7.45pm (uk time), Estádio da Luz, Friendly, ESPN


Van Persie and Gervinho have linked up well in pre-season

Arsenal look to round off pre-season with positive performance

It's been arguably the most turbulent summer in Arsene Wenger's rein at Arsenal. Constant talk of key players leaving and possible new arrivals but in reality nothing much has happened. Gervinho and Carl Jenkinson have signed, Gael Clichy and Denilson have left the club, the later on loan, whilst Nicklas Bendtner, Manuel Almunia and Emmanuel Eboue are in talks with other clubs, but not much else. Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the two protagonists, are still very much at the Emirates despite all the talk of them leaving. On the pitch, Arsenal have been up and down in pre-season. Confident performances against Malaysia and Cologne and have been spoiled by comebacks from Boca Juniors and New York Redbulls at the Emirates cup. Whilst pre-season isn't that important in terms of results, it's always reassuring to see good displays and Arsene Wenger will want exactly that from his side in Lisbon.

Benfica signings looking to impress

After losing David Luiz and Ramires to Chelsea in the last year, the club continued to move on key players in pre-season. The Lisbon giants gained £26m from Real Madrid for star left-back Fabio Coentrao, Nuno Gomes joined Braga on a free after 9 years at the club and keeper Roberto joined Zaragoza for £7.4m. But the club have made several signings too. Former Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matić has joined the club, highly-rated Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel has signed from Liege for £5.6m, Barcelona B striker Nolito has also signed for the club whilst world cup winner Joan Capdevila joined on a free from Villarreal. Possibly the most important signing for Jorge Jesus' side however will be Ezequiel Garay, the Argentinian defender who has signed from Real Madrid. In total, Benfica have signed 16 new faces this summer, whilst 12 players have returned from loan periods.

Team News

Arsenal

Koscielny, Walcott, Diaby, Wilshere, Nasri and Gibbs are all injured and have been left behind whilst Fabregas is not yet match fit. Bendtner, Eboue and Almunia are in talks with other clubs. Miquel and Lansbury have been included in the traveling squad.


Benfica

Jorge Jesus has plenty of options to select from in a huge squad. The following line-up is close to the one that was fielded against Trabzonspor in the third qualifying round of the Champions League last week.

Having ten first team players missing going into the final stages of pre-season certainly isn't the ideal way to go. At this point, we should have a near complete first team squad and most of our transfer business done so we can be ready to hit the ground running when the season starts.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case; three players away talking to other clubs, six injuries, one unfit player, squad not settled...

Despite that, hopefully we'll put in a good performance and come away with a win. It'll be a tough game - Benfica are certainly no pushovers - but I'm confident of a win if we play well.

Can't see us keeping a clean sheet, though.

Agree with you Jay.

I don't think a win is that important however. Remember in 2009, we lost 2-0 at Valencia in last pre-season friendly then went to Everton and won 6-1, Celtic and won 2-0 and thumped Portsmouth 4-1. So its hardly a telling factor in the start of the season however a draw at least would be great.

So many key players absent but thank god its only a friendly. The majority of the team that start today will play v newcastle so it will be interesting to watch.

Great work sam

fitness is still important. We have to play over 50 matches so we should go in with the best shape.

I hope we put in a strong team, but wont mind few experiments. Rosicky deserves to start in the middle once again. Ramsey Rosicky and Song midfield with Frimpong and Lansbury coming in 2nd half. Depending on how many subs we are allowed

Anotehr thing im hoping for is CHamakh to pick up some kind of form. We need him for the start of the season. Unless we experiment with Gervinho upfront.

I hope we get a good match with our defence being tested A LOT.

A win would probably settle the fans down a tiny bit after the Emirates Cup, but I do agree that it's not majorly important. A good all-round performance on the night is probably more of a priortiy.

On a more positive note, even with 10 players missing we can still field quite a stong eleven.

it is going to be a cracker of a game!
prepare to lose though
actually i dont have high hopes, jesus has said he is going to rest our main payers so they line up that is shown in the preview is nothing like the one we will field

Hoping that Chamakh hits some form.. And also we need Arshavin and Rosicky to be sharper...

two attacking sides in action, cant wait to see how our signings perform against tough opposition

theaguia wrote:it is going to be a cracker of a game!
prepare to lose though
actually i dont have high hopes, jesus has said he is going to rest our main payers so they line up that is shown in the preview is nothing like the one we will field

Yeh it was pretty hard for me to get your probable line up at the last minute too. The line up is purely based on your qualifying games for the CL.

I'm quite excited to see Aimar tbh.

Rosicky to have another great game.. Hope he makes some good assists and pulls strings befitting of his title.. On the whole, it should be a great game..

Isn't it Eusebio Cup or something btw?

The two managers.

srigooner wrote:Rosicky to have another great game.. Hope he makes some good assists and pulls strings befitting of his title.. On the whole, it should be a great game..

Isn't it Eusebio Cup or something btw?

its the eusebio cup yes,
garcia and witsel will make rosicky's life hell

Iceman wrote:I'm quite excited to see Aimar tbh.

will play in the second half me thinks

Rozza has been excellent during pre-season. If you think that Witsel and Garcia will make his life hell, then I'd love to see if he has stepped up his game enough in order to play well against tough opposition

Iceman wrote:Rozza has been excellent during pre-season. If you think that Witsel and Garcia will make his life hell, then I'd love to see if he has stepped up his game enough in order to play well against tough opposition

well i actually think he deserves to have a great season, he has the talent just too many injuries. It should be a nice match up. also it would nice to see your cb aginst a speed demon-jara as well as nolito vs rb

If Rozza can step up against this midfield, I will be a lot more relaxed going into this season. I foresee Rozza having to play a big part this season, and being a senior player with experience, the kids should be able to look upto him and learn.

Tommy V and Sagna at CB and RB will be comfortable.. I'd be watching closely if Miquel and Jenkinsson play in those positions..

Whats your game style by the way? (Counters/Long balls/..) Just curious..

very attacking fast flowing football, short passing mostly. we do use counters when we have a chance though.
i hope the coach puts up the best side

theaguia wrote:very attacking fast flowing football, short passing mostly. we do use counters when we have a chance though.
i hope the coach puts up a good side

^^ Like the sound of that..

i hope we see lansbury playing right from the start he deserves a chance. if he does play i have my fingers crossed he will be first team. i am also looking forward to see garay i have heard good things about him.

Capdevila will make his debut tonight according to local Portuguese press.

he hsant played yet, you probably will burn him with speed

gracia aint playing, matic is in his place, our line is slighlty weak with no garcia, aimar or maxi as expected.

i think arshavin will have a good game as a very rusty player is playing agaisnt him, wilst rozza has to deal with capdevilla.

i expect gibbs to have a difficult night dealing with gaitan

Rvp might not be in his top form sice i assume that he is fasting and the same for chamkh

The team line-ups are out? Rozza is on the wing? O.o

Gibbs is pretty bad with his positioning, I don't expect any solid defensive display from him really.