Pre-season friendly preview and odds: MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal

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Football
Published: 28/07/2016

Pre-season friendly preview and odds: MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal

July 29, 2016 01:30am - Avaya Stadium, San Jose

Pre-season friendly

Arsenal will get their short North American tour underway on Friday when they take on an MLS All Star team at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose, with the start of the 2016-17 Premier League season just over two weeks away.

Arsenal unbeaten since Champions League defeat to Barcelona in March

In the second game of their pre-season preparations, Premier League runners-up Arsenal will take a team made up of the very best that the United States Major League has to offer. The Gunners played out a 1-1 draw against Lens last week and were then dealt a blow after it was confirmed that Per Mertesacker would be out for at least five months after undergoing knee surgery.

With Laurent Koscielny still being rested following his involvement in Euro 2016 and Gabriel Paulista being left behind due to illness, Arsene Wenger will be forced to field a makeshift defence for Friday`s clash. That could be a start for both Calum Chambers and new boy Rob Holding.

Following this game, the North Londoners will play one more fixture in the states when they take on Mexican side Chivas de Guadalajara at the Stubhub Center in Carson, California on Monday. They will then fly to Norway to face before concluding their pre-season schedule with a match against Manchester City in Sweden.

The Gunners have not lost a football match since they were defeated 3-1 away to Barcelona in the Champions League back in March.

After finishing as runner-up in last year`s Premier League campaign, the Gunners will be keen to hit the ground running when they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates for the opening game of the season on August 14.

Team news

Arsenal`s long list of injured or rested players includes Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista. However new signings Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding have both travelled with the squad.

The MLS All Stars will pick a starting XI from the following squad:

Goalkeepers:

David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes)

Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)

Defenders:

Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United)

Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact)

Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution)

Liam Ridgewell (Portland Timbers)

Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union)

Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire)

Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Midfielders:

Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)

Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas)

Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy)

Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids)

Kaká (Orlando City)

Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls)

Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)

Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC)

Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)

Forwards:

Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders)

Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact)

Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)

Cyle Larin (Orlando City)

Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact)

David Villa (New York City FC)

Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Recent form (All competitions)

MLS All Stars: starstarstarstarstar

Arsenal: DWDWD

Betting odds and tips

Arsenal will not be at full strength but they will be playing a side that has hardly played together in what should be little more than an exhibition match.

You can back Arsenal to win at 13/10 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Go To bet365
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MLS All Stars v Arsenal Live Betting Odds - Elite Club Friendlies

Home Win
13/8
Draw
16/5
Away Win
5/4

Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (28/07/2016) but are subject to change.

28/07/2016     © Frixo 2024

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