The Game

Finally, football is back. After weeks and weeks of speculation, lack of new signings and long trips to reach Asia, today we officially kick-off our pre-season friendly campaign.

With Manuel Almunia, Nicklas Bendtner and the injured Cesc Fabregas not with the rest of the squad, the Asia tour will allow us to closely monitor the likes of Carl Jenkinson, Ryo Miyaichi, Emmanuel Frimpong, Kieran Gibbs and Armand Traore, players who according to manager Arsene Wenger may get a chance to feature in the first team, next season.

And of course, we will also admire the skill and talent of Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie with the Dutchman determined to continue from where he left off last season, a phenomenal 2011 in which he was by far England’s best player in the final part of the season.

During their week-long tour in Asia, the Gunners will face the Malaysia All-Stars XI today with kick-off at 13:45 in the UK and then Hangzhou Greentown on Saturday with kick-off set at 12:30.

And, until you wait for kick-off, check out why Wojciech Szczesny wants to be our goalkeeper for the next ten to fifteen years and also why Arsene Wenger believes that Kieran Gibbs, Armand Traore and Thomas Vermaelen are enough for the left wing left vacant by Gael Clichy, who joined Manchester City.

As always, please do join the discussion in our chat room which will also be active after the full time whistle. You will be glad to know that from this season, to provide a better chat experience to our readers, users can be banned if they post offensive comments.

Streaming Links

For those who don’t know where to watch the game, maybe we can help, follow this link for streaming options. Links are updated before and during the match.

The Line-Ups

Malaysia All-Stars XI

Mat Nourdin, Jasuli, Asraruddin Putra, Aidil Zafuan, Rahim, Mohd Shas, A/L Subramaniam, Idlan Talaha, Rohidan, Fakri Saarani, Amirulhadi Zainal

Subs: Ismail, Rizal Fahmi, Safee Mohd Sali, Azmi Muslin, Hadi Yahaya, Gurusamy Govandar, Shakir Shaari, Remeli, Mohd Saad, Fahmie Che Mat, Bakhtiar, Muslim Ahmad, Suppiah, Ashaari Shamsudin, Sharbinee Allawee

Arsenal

Szczesny, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Wilshere, Song, Ramsey, Miyaichi, Walcott, Chamakh

Subs: Mannone, Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Traore, Nasri, Rosicky, Denilson, Frimpong, van Persie, Vela, Arshavin

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

As the chat room has grown in popularity, my half-time thoughts as well as the comments of other Arsenal fans are now being discussed in the Arsenal Interactive chat room to which you can find a link at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to join the fun and share your point of view.