.jpg)
Arsenal drew 1-1 with Nurnberg at the Max-Morlock-Stadion in their first pre-season friendly ahead of the new campaign.
Mikel Arteta fielded a strong starting lineup to take on the 2.Bundesliga side, with the likes of William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard all featuring in the XI.
However, new signing Kai Havertz, who joined the Gunners from Chelsea for some £65million last month, was named on the bench.
Advert
Here’s how Arsenal fared against Nurnberg:
Arsenal starting XI:
Aaron Ramsdale - 5
The Arsenal shot-stopper had next to nothing to do, but looked solid when called upon.
Advert
Ben White - 7
Ben White was lively throughout, darting up and down the right flank to provide Saka with an overlap. He linked up well with his England colleague and was a constant threat.
In the second half White proved his versatility by slotting in at centre-back.
William Saliba - 6
Advert
Looked solid though had very little to do on his return from injury.
Gabriel Magalhães - 6
Like his centre-back partner, Gabriel Magalhães did everything he needed to do well, but was rarely called upon to defend.
Jacub Kiwior - 6
Advert
Jacub Kiwior technically started on the left but spent the game drifting into midfield a la Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Poland international saw the ball a lot and looked composed, other than the odd wayward pass.
Leandro Trossard - 7
Played a deeper role than usual and looked comfortable. The Belgian buzzed around the midfield, setting up several attacks with confident forward passes.
Advert
Leandro Trossard then moved into a false-9 position for the second half, but was forced off with a knock in the 55th minute.
Thomas Partey - 6
The Ghanaian had few stand-out moments but kept things ticking at the base of the midfield.
Fabio Vieira - 5
Filling in for the injured Martin Odegaard, Fabio Vieira struggled to make an impact. The Portugal Under-21 international misplaced several passes, knocked a dangerous free-kick out of play and tripped while attempting to counter. To be fair, he only found out he was starting minutes before kick-off.
In the second half, he looked more confident, but was substituted off just as he appeared to be finding his stride.
Bukayo Saka - 8
Saka was electric as ever, picking up where he left off last term. The Hale End graduate netted Arsenal’s opener, cutting onto his favoured left foot before arrowing a shot into the bottom corner.
In fact, on another day the England international could have had a first-half hat-trick. He was a constant menace down the right.
Eddie Nketiah - 5
Eddie Nketiah, who is battling with Gabriel Jesus and Folarin Balogun for a place in the side, struggled to make an impact. He had a half-chance early in proceedings which he squandered but was largely anonymous.
Reiss Nelson - 6
Reiss Nelson showed some nice touches and set up Nketiah for a chance early in the game, but struggled to make an impact as the first-half wore on. He was substituted, along with most of the starting XI at half-time.
Subs:
Karl Hein - 3
Unfortunately, the youngster had a nightmare.
Karl Hein came on at half-time and was quickly responsible for a howler. The shot-stopper attempted to pass to Jorginho, who was being pressured by a Nurnberg attacker, and the Italian international was duly tackled with the loose ball trickling into the net. Not ideal.
Then, a Nurnberg player had an attempt from some 40 yards out, which Hein parried into danger. He was lucky the German side were not able to scramble in the rebound.
Cedric Soares - 5
Came on at the break and looked lively. The Portugal international even had a chance to score at the break only to strike a left-footed shot narrowly wide from close range.
However, his set-pieces were mostly woeful.
Kieran Tierney - 5
Very little went came down the left flank to start with, but Kieran Tierney looked solid and grew into the game.
Jorginho - 5
Jorginho kept the ball ticking along in midfield, and yes, also played a major part in Nurnberg’s equaliser. It looks to have been a bizarre Jorginho own-goal, though Nurnberg's Kanji Okunuki has also claimed it.
Either way I would argue that the incident was more the keeper’s fault than the Italian international's however.
Kai Havertz - 6
Came on at halftime to make his debut and showed some nice touches without doing anything standout. Certainly more to come from the German.
Gabriel Jesus - 7
The Brazilian was another to come on at halftime and looked his usual self - a live wire, constantly switching positions with his fellow attacking players.
He almost bagged a goal too. Jesus made a cute run to get in behind, but one-on-one with the keeper his left-footed effort was quite frankly appalling.
Folarin Balogun - 6
Balogun came on and looked decent, only to squander a massive chance to win it. The US international rounded the keeper before placing his effort into the side-netting with just a few minutes on the clock.
He also hit the post from a narrow-angle early in the second half.
Ethan Nwaneri - 7
The teenager proved why he is the talk of the academy when he came on, playing some lovely forward passes and demonstrating a brilliant first touch.
At one point he even rouletted past two Nurnberg players in true Zinedine Zidane fashion.
Aaron Trusty - 6
Another player from the Hale End conveyer belt who impressed. Looked solid and put in a few decisive blocks.
Reuell Walters - 7
Walters was busy. He came on with about ten-minutes to go, flashed a header just wide of goal and then delivered a goal-saving block in the 90th minute. A good cameo.
Miles Lewis-Skelly - 5
Didn't have enough time to impose himself on the game but looked technically proficient.
Topics: Football, Arsenal, Premier League, Mikel Arteta
Chris Byfield