Comments and predictions for Arsenal vs Villarreal: Gyokeres scores a double

Latest Arsenal vs Villarreal team information

Five of Arsenal's six summer signings have made their unofficial debuts on the Asian tour, with fans at the Emirates Stadium getting their first look at Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard.

Noni Madueke was retained in London after starring for Chelsea at the Club World Cup, but the England international could now be handed his first minutes in red and white, especially after Leandro Trossard picked up an injury against Spurs.

The Belgian will join defenders Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber on the injury list, while Gabriel Jesus is still several months out from an ACL injury.

Jesus can sympathise with one Villarreal player – defender Logan Costa – who also suffered a serious ligament injury against Basel and will be out for a long time.

In addition, the visitors have a fairly stable force, and two former players who failed at Arsenal – Nicolas Pepe and Denis Suarez – could have a reunion with their old team on Wednesday.

Villarreal are also close to signing free agent Thomas Partey, but the Ghanaian midfielder will definitely not be involved in the game as he was due to appear in court the day before on charges of rape and sexual assault.

Latest expected lineup for Arsenal vs Villarreal

Arsenal:

Raya; White, Saliba, Mosquera, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli

Villarreal:

Junior; Foyth, Mourino, Marin, Cardona; Pepe, Gueye, Parejo, Pino; Eyong, Moreno

Latest football commentary Arsenal vs Villarreal

The excitement over the signing of Viktor Gyokeres was quickly overshadowed by defeat in the North London derby in Hong Kong, where Arsenal once again showed their creative stalemate as they lost 1-0 to Thomas Frank's Tottenham.

In the first North London derby to be held outside England, Pape Sarr’s superb strike from midfield made all the difference. The Senegalese midfielder recreated his trademark David Beckham-style shot to score the only goal.

Had that incident occurred in a Premier League game, VAR might have intervened due to the collision between Richarlison and Myles Lewis-Skelly before the goal, but overall, Arsenal had little cause for complaint after a game that lacked clear chances – a familiar scenario in the 2024-25 season.

The Gunners had won all their friendlies against Watford, Newcastle United and AC Milan before this game, but their perfect run came to an end in Hong Kong. As for their end-of-season performance at the Emirates, it probably doesn’t need mentioning.

Mikel Arteta's side won just one of their last five home games of the season, but they could lift the trophy at the Emirates early when they host Villarreal on Wednesday, before facing Athletic Bilbao in the Emirates Cup on Saturday.

While Arsenal have just returned to England, Villarreal are on a three-match tour of the foggy country, starting with a 1-1 draw against Leeds United – the team returning to the Premier League – on August 2.

Etta Eyong opened the scoring, but Joel Piroe equalized after just five minutes, extending the Yellow Submarine's winless run in pre-season to six games, with four of them ending in draws.

Coach Marcelino's team also shared points with Basel, Real Oviedo and St. Gallen, and lost two consecutive matches against Sporting Lisbon and Genoa - not an ideal preparation for returning to the Champions League in the 2025-26 season.

Villarreal qualified for Europe's top competition thanks to a fifth-place finish in La Liga in 2024-25, and they could well face Arsenal again in the group stages, a team they have fond memories of in their most recent encounters.

Unai Emery's Villarreal eliminated Arsenal in the semi-finals on their way to winning the 2020-21 Europa League. However, it was the North Londoners who won the 2005-06 Champions League semi-finals and the 2008-09 quarter-finals.

Latest Arsenal vs Villarreal score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Arsenal vs Villarrealas follows:

• Sportsmole:Arsenal 2-1 Villarreal

• WhoScore:Arsenal 2-0 Villarreal
• Our newspaper predicts:Arsenal 2-0 Villarreal

When and where to watch Arsenal vs Villarreal live?

To watch live the Arsenal vs Villarreal friendly match taking place at 0:00 on August 7, viewers can watch it on online sports channels. Wishing viewers happy moments of watching football.