Arsenal travel to Estadi Montilivi to face Girona on Saturday, kicking off at 8pm local time (7pm BST), in their first public preseason fixture after opening the summer with a 3-0 behind-closed-doors victory over MK Dons. Girona provide another step up in quality as both clubs continue preparations for the new campaign.
Arsenal won the Premier League title last season on 85 points, ending a 22-year wait and clinching the trophy with a game to spare after Manchester City drew at Bournemouth. Mikel Arteta's side spent 238 days at the top of the table and finished seven points clear of City, their biggest winning margin since the Invincibles campaign.
The underlying numbers reinforce how dominant they were, leading the Premier League with an xPTS total of 77.21, while creating 68.7 xG and conceding just 30.0 xGA, comfortably the division's best defensive record.
Girona endured a difficult campaign in La Liga, finishing 19th on 41 points and suffering relegation. Their underlying numbers painted a different picture, however, generating 48.2 xG, a positive xGD of +1.4 and an xPTS total of 56.4. Poor finishing rather than poor chance creation ultimately proved their downfall.
Mikel Arteta remains without several senior players ahead of Arsenal's first public preseason outing. Those involved in the latter stages of the World Cup with England and Spain are still on their post-tournament break, while William Saliba faces an extended spell out with a back injury. Martin Odegaard is also yet to return after Norway's run to the quarter-finals.
Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres have both returned to training following Germany and Sweden's World Cup exits, giving Arteta two senior attacking options who were unavailable against MK Dons. Piero Hincapie's move has also been made permanent after last season's loan spell, while the only major new arrival is Christos Tzolis, who already has two weeks of preseason work behind him after training and featuring for Club Brugge before completing his move.
Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli are expected to join the squad in Girona but are unlikely to feature heavily after limited training. Ben White is closing in on his first appearance since the knee injury that ended his campaign, while Jurrien Timber is expected to need a little longer following minor groin surgery earlier this summer.
Arteta is again expected to hand opportunities to several younger players. Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri both impressed against MK Dons and should feature again, while Cristhian Mosquera is likely to continue alongside Riccardo Calafiori at centre-back in Saliba's absence. Tzolis is another expected starter given his head start on fitness.
Girona have also undergone change this summer after Michel departed for Ajax following relegation, with reserve-team coach Quique Alvarez promoted on a one-year deal. Their opening friendly ended in a comfortable 2-0 victory over Racing Santander, with Abel Ruiz and Iker Munoz scoring to hand the new head coach an encouraging start.
How the bookies view it
At the time of writing there are no odds available for this fixture.
Head to head: First meeting between these two sides
This will be the first meeting between Arsenal and Girona in either a competitive fixture or a friendly.
Player to watch: Kai Havertz to get his career back on track
Kai Havertz is expected to lead the line after returning to training this week. With several attacking players still unavailable following the World Cup, Arteta is likely to rely on the Germany international for valuable minutes.
Havertz kept himself fit with individual work at Bayer Leverkusen during the summer and, after an injury-disrupted campaign limited him to just 12 appearances, this preseason offers an important opportunity to rebuild both his fitness and confidence before the Premier League returns.
Predicted line ups
Girona (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Arnau, Lopez, Krejci, Gutierrez; Martin, Solis; Tsygankov, Munoz, Gil; Ruiz.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Kepa; White, Mosquera, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly; Norgaard, Dowman, Nwaneri; Tzolis, Havertz, Salmon.
Anything else catch the eye?
Team news feels far more important than last season's league positions. Arsenal are still without a sizeable group of World Cup players and continue to build fitness among several returning stars, while Girona are only beginning life under a new head coach following relegation from La Liga.
The quality gap still favours Arsenal, even with a much-changed squad. Girona's relegation owed more to wasteful finishing than consistently poor performances, but facing the Premier League champions is an entirely different challenge.
Arsenal's defensive process was comfortably the best in England last season and that identity should remain regardless of rotation. That points towards Arteta's side controlling both the game and the scoreline. Preseason friendlies are rarely played at full intensity, and Girona's struggles in front of goal last season make it difficult to see this becoming an open contest.
My preferred angle, once markets become available, would be Arsenal to win and under 3.5 goals.
GambleAware