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Arsenal begin their pre-season tour of the United States with a high-profile friendly against the MLS All-Stars in Washington DC tonight. Mikel Arteta could hand record signing Declan Rice his Gunners debut following a blockbuster £105million move from West Ham last week, while fellow new signings Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber could also feature at Audi Field.
Arsenal are two games deep into their pre-season preparations after draws against Watford and in Germany against Nurnberg. Clearly, results are not the most important thing at this stage of the summer but Arteta will nevertheless be keen to see his new arrivals hit the ground running, particularly with such a big campaign to come.
The MLS All-Stars line up – coached by DC United boss Wayne Rooney – will include the likes of Christian Benteke and ex-Chelsea defender Matt Miazga as familiar faces to Premier League fans and many of their players are already halfway through the domestic season, offering Arsenal a real test. Follow all the action live below with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog!
MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal latest news
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Trusty the hero for Arsenal
Arsenal had forgotten man Auston Trusty to thank for winning the MLS All-Star Skill Challenger after Kai Havertz struggled.
The Gunners beat their MLS counterparts in Washington on Tuesday evening across five events, testing the players’ shooting, passing, touch, finishing and accuracy.
Each team chose 10 players to take part, with defenders Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior stepping up to the penalty spot for the shooting challenge to beat the likes of striker Christian Benteke for the opponents.
Havertz and Marquinhos took on the touch challenge, with the aim to control and volley crosses into different areas, and again the Gunners came out on top with the help of Trusty and Jorginho.
The £65million summer signing had less luck in the finishing challenge, as he scored zero points and failed to hit the target and MLS All-Stars won the round with ease.
Trusty, Jorginho and Kiwior restored Arsenal’s two-round advantage in the passing challenge before the crossbar challenge settled matters.
Sunglasses at the ready
Brace yourselves – Arsenal will be wearing their new away kit tonight.
It’s… loud. The claim is that it “celebrates the club’s Islington roots”, which I’m sure you all knew as soon as you saw it.
This is just the men’s away kit – the Arsenal women’s team will have their own strip. A lucky escape.
Standard Sport prediction
The All-Stars have won 11 of the 19 matches held for this traditional summer contest and Arsenal looked a little rusty against Nurnberg.
They MLS outfit might not have the same quality as the Arsenal side, but history says back the team that’s midway through its season.
MLS All-Stars to win, 3-2.
MLS All-Stars team news
Christian Benteke and ex-Chelsea defender Matt Miazga are among the former Premier League faces on the MLS roster.
Lionel Messi is not named in the squad, despite his recent move to the MLS, while Carlos Vela, the former Gunners forward now playing at Los Angeles FC, is also not involved.
Arsenal team news
Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber are hoping to make their Arsenal debuts in tonight’s friendly match.
Mikel Arteta has assured fans that £105million capture Rice is not suffering from an injury despite being pictured working away from the group in training earlier this week.
“We just wanted to manage him,” Arsenal boss Arteta said of the England international.
Obviously a lot has happened to him in the last five or six days. He had a very hectic schedule and he had a few training sessions that went really good, but prior to that, he didn’t do much before he joined us.”
Along with potential places for Rice and Timber, Arteta could hand Kai Havertz a first start having brought him off the bench for the draw with Nurnberg last week.
It would not be a surprise to see Arteta start strong against the All-Stars and he will have been monitoring the fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of the game.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
How to watch MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal
TV channel and live stream: In the UK, the game will be televised live on Apple TV, via their MLS Season Pass service.
Live blog: You can follow all the action right here with us!
Good evening!
Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of the MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal!
The Gunners began their pre-season schedule by drawing to Nurnberg and are now in the USA to continue their preparations for the new campaign.
It’s Wayne Rooney in charge of the All-Stars side – should be a fun one!
We’ll have all the latest build-up and team news ahead of kick-off, which comes at 1.30am BST from Audi Field in Washington.
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