Arsenal vs Monaco. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Arsenal FC will meet with AS Monaco in the Emirates Cup final match at the Emirates Stadium in London. The fixture will take place on Wednesday, August 2, beginning at 22:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Arsenal News & Current Form: 

The start of the new English Premier League season is just a little while away. Already this Sunday, August 6, Arsenal and Manchester City will compete in the FA Community Shield match. Before that, however, the Londoners are in contention for another honor in the Emirates Cup – the opponent will be Monaco. 

The Gunners are the reigning Emirates Cup winners. Last year in the battle for the trophy Londoners outclassed Sevilla FC (6 – 0). Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick and Bukayo Saka scored a double.

Arsenal last season was at the top of the table in the EPL for a long time and set an anti-record of the championship of England, missing the championship. Mikel Arteta’s team led the league for 248 days. Never in the history of the English top league have teams lost their title chances after such a long period of being in first place.

A disappointing end to the championship has robbed the Gunners of the gold medals. Mikel Arteta intends to fight for first place again. The club management shares the optimism of the coach and spent a lot of money on strengthening the squad in the off-season.

In this current transfer window, clubs worldwide have invested a staggering €1.68bn in acquiring midfielders, constituting approximately 39% of the total transfer expenditure, reflecting the increasing demand and value for players in that position. Notably, Arsenal’s ambitious summer spending in the midfield department has not only intensified the market but also resulted in breaking the record for the highest amount spent by a club on midfielders within a single season. 

The illustrious North London club has now surpassed the previous record set by Chelsea FC by investing a remarkable €191.6m on top talents like Rice, Havertz, and other players, showcasing their dedication to strengthening their midfield and competing at the highest level.

The defense has been strengthened by Jurrien Timber from AFC Ajax (40 million euros), while the attack will shine with Kai Havertz (65 million euros), who was bored at Chelsea. Declan Rice was bought to replace Granit Xhaka, who returned to the Bundesliga, in the midfield. Arsenal paid a record 122 million euros for him. 

Rice is a former West Ham United FC captain who led the team to victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League (the first trophy for the club in 43 years), and the main midfielder of the England national team at the EURO 2020 and at the FIFA World Cup 2022. 

One of the 24-year-old Rice’s greatest assets is his constant availability – he hardly misses a match. His first full season of 2017/18 saw him play 26 games, including 15 at the core squad. And over the next four seasons, Rice missed only nine games, and in the 2019/20 championship he played all games in full.

In that stretch, only defender James Tarkowski played more among field players – 16,274 minutes compared to 15,753 for Rice, who has never dipped below the 3,000-minute mark in a season. For the EPL with its intensity, that’s incredibly impressive.

Rice’s hard work and professionalism help him to achieve this. So, after the summer of 2021, after the European Championships, where he was the main player of the England national team (all six matches in the starting line-up), he cut his holiday by a week, spending only 10 days in Ibiza to start pre-season with West Ham. 

Rice’s other most important characteristic is that he is even better without the ball than with the ball. Declan has a high game intelligence and a great reading of the game. He knows when and how to engage in tackling. Rice doesn’t shy away from tackling either, and he’s extremely skilful at it – according to data provided by Opta from last season (2022/23), he’s the best midfielder in the Premier League at tackling – 70% of his attempts are successful. Rice is 10th in interceptions. He is also good in the aerial duels – 59% won (17th in the league).

All in all, Rice’s defensive work looks very good – he is one of the best in England. The only issue is that West Ham under David Moyes have never pressed particularly high (they’ve always been in the second ten in terms of PPDA), whereas Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal regularly utilize this element of the game. So Rice will have to do a bit of reorganizing.

Due to a busy last season, the Gunners did not have a very long pre-season. After the match in Germany with FC Nuremberg (1 – 1), the Londoners went on an American tour, defeating the US team in the MLS All-Star game (5 – 0) and losing to Manchester United (0 – 2). 

Author of two goals against FC Barcelona – Leandro Trossard

Then the Londoners gave a real show to American spectators in the game with FC Barcelona (5 – 3). It is worth noting that Arsenal achieved victory in the second half. All two goals in the 2nd half were scored by striker Leandro Trossard, who moved from Brighton & Hove Albion last season, but managed to score only one goal in 20 games.

Arsenal looked highly energized in their last meeting with the Catalans. Barcelona coach Xavi even complained about the English players who made too many fouls as if it was a UEFA Champions League match, but praised the intensity of Mikel Arteta’s side.

After the long flight from California and in the run-up to the upcoming Super Cup, one can expect that Mikel Arteta will not field a strong squad in the upcoming game, and the players are unlikely to go into a tough encounter. Besides, the nearest rival is not a particular problem for Arsenal.

Ahead of the new campaign, Arsenal face the daunting specter of injury concerns, as notable players like Rice (knock), Folarin Balogun (foot), and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) were absent during their victory over Barcelona, further compounded by Reiss Nelson (toe) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (muscle) also being sidelined. 

With Zinchenko unavailable, Timber filled the left-back position during the Barcelona match, but Kieran Tierney presents a strong option to reclaim the role, amidst rumors that he will continue donning Arsenal colors in the upcoming season. While speculation swirls about a potential move for David Raya of Brentford FC, Aaron Ramsdale currently retains the number one goalkeeper position for the club.

Monaco News & Current Form: 

A tumultuous 2021/22 season that saw Monaco’s triumphs and failures intertwined, culminating in a commendable third place finish that paved the way to the prestigious Champions League and UEFA Europa League. 

However, despite their tenacious efforts, the elusive taste of success remained just beyond their grasp, leaving them with a bittersweet feeling as they settled for the sixth position this season. In the off-season, the club management did not splurge on expensive newcomers, but managed to retain almost the entire core squad, including Aleksandr Golovin.

Newly acquired goalie of Monaco – Philipp Köhn

The only summer acquisition of Monegasques was the purchase of RB Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Köhn. However, the main change at Monaco took place on the coaching bridge. Instead of the resigned Philippe Clement, the team is led by Austrian Adi Hütter.

The former coach of Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach spent a year on sabbatical and has taken up the job with enthusiasm. The club has had a very busy pre-season, which has been going on since the beginning of July. In that time, the team has already played six friendly matches.

The first two meetings with Belgian clubs were unsuccessful. A 1 – 1 draw with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise was followed by a 0 – 3 defeat to Cercle Brugge, and Monaco went on to win three matches in a row. Carrying out an active rotation, the Monegasques won over Real Betis (3 – 1) and Leeds United FC (2 – 0), as well as over Bologna FC (3 – 2), but lost to Genoa CFC (0 – 1).

The last meeting with the Genoese was held on 29 July, and therefore on the field we could see a second squad come out, while the main one was purposefully preparing for a status match with Arsenal. Aleksandr Golovin, who made a double in the game with Bologna, remained on the bench.

The team has 2 friendlies left to play before the start of the new season in Ligue 1. Monaco have already shown a decent level, and may well make it to the European Cup at the end of next season.

It is worth noting that the Red and Whites took part in the Emirates Cup in 2014. Then the French took third place, passing Arsenal and Valencia CF. 

In preparation for their friendlies against Bologna and Genoa, Monaco’s manager Hutter strategically split the squad into two groups, with Axel Disasi captaining the team in the latter fixture, but the talented center-back is now poised for a £38.5m move to Chelsea, making it likely that he has already played his final game for the club; furthermore, Breel Embolo, who had a challenging season due to a knee injury, is expected to be unavailable. 

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Arsenal form guide:  D-D-W-L-W

Monaco form guide: D-L-W-W-W-L

Arsenal vs Monaco Head-To-Head Record:

• August 3, 2014: Arsenal 0 – 1 Monaco (Emirates Cup);
• February 25, 2015: Arsenal 1 – 3 Monaco (UEFA Champions League);
• March 17, 2015: Monaco 0 – 2 Arsenal (UEFA Champions League).

Arsenal vs Monaco Predicted XI:

Arsenal’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Odegaard, Partey, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Trossard.

Monaco’s possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1): Kohn; Matsima, Maripan, Okou; Vanderson, Camara, Fofana, Henrique; Golovin, Volland; Ben Yedder.

Statistical preview of the match Arsenal vs Monaco:

• Arsenal’s First XI average age is 25.2 yrs.
• Monaco’s First XI average age is 22.6 yrs.
• Total price of Arsenal’s squad is $1.21bln, while Monaco’s – $300mln.
• Arsenal have seen 3 or more goals scored in 68 per cent of their games in the last season. The visitors also registered at least three goals in 63 per cent of their Ligue 1 games.
• Monaco have scored 2 goals per game on average during the stretch of recent 4 encounters. 
• In each of Monaco’s last five friendlies, the referees have recorded at least one first-half goal.
• The Londoners have managed to score at least one goal in 5 of the last 6 games.

What has been said before the match:

Mikel Arteta, guffer of the Gunners, about game with Barcelona and quality of his squad:

“It got really competitive for a friendly match – after the first tackle, after the first goal. Obviously, in front of 70,000 fans it helps to create an atmosphere. They are elite players, and all want to win, and at the end it got a bit too much at times for a friendly to be fair. But I think we showed all the people that came to watch the game that it was really good.”

“We have 30 players here which is unsustainable, and obviously the market is still open, and things can happen – but we are prepared. We are really happy with the squad we have at the moment; we obviously have improvements to make in terms of what we want to do in games, and we have to do that. Overall, I’m really pleased with the team.”

Adi Hutter about his appointment as AS Monaco coach:

“Today I think everyone wants to get back to playing in Europe, within the Club. It is one of our main objectives, even if it is difficult of course, to return to the continental scene. AS Monaco deserves to compete in prestigious competitions like the Champions League. And to do that you have to finish at the top of the table. It’s a big challenge for us, and I think we have a chance to achieve it.”

“In any case, we will fight every day to do so. And for that, it’s important to feel the support of everyone behind us, and that’s what I feel. We all have different roles, but keep the same goal in mind. It’s important to be proud to work at AS Monaco and strive for success, working together, pulling in the same direction. All these people around us give us a lot of positive energy, and the players have to feel this.”

“If the directors trust in me, it is above all because they are looking for someone who wants to advocate playing aggressive, proactive football, and who has a clear idea of how he wants to play. It is also a sense of reaction, the attitude you show when you lose the ball that characterizes you.”

“This club really has a strong history, but also a very good academy which is essential. Because I like to develop young talents, to support them until they become great players. This is our challenge, and it’s a question of balance. Because at the end of the day, you have to be successful.”

“I like for my teams to play aggressive football in a good way, to be proactive, with a clear idea of how to play. This must go with the desire to have a conquering state of mind, to show character, when you lose the ball for example. It is important that everyone finds their place in this vision. As a coach, I like to communicate a lot. I also have to be a leader, even if I prefer to say team player.”

Arsenal vs Monaco Prediction:

Monaco have been erratic in pre-season, winning only three of their seven friendlies, with the opponents being fairly run-of-the-mill. Now they travel to London to face the most expensive team in the world, who have been more than productive over the summer holidays, having had time to square off against the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United. The reinforced Gunners, who have already managed to build up a good chemistry, besides integrating their newcomers, are clearly planning to give a warm welcome to the French. They are excellent in attack, the level of performers is head and shoulders above the selection of players from the vis-a-vis camp, which belongs to the six-ranked European league. The Reds are looking to please the legendary Arsene Wenger, who will visit the match in honour of the unveiling of a statue outside the stadium.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Arsenal will win with an individual total over 1,5 – Yes.

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