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It's Barca's first outing for weeks
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Xavi's men have also been hit by illness
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Back Arsenal to win
Barcelona v Arsenal
Thursday 03:30 (Live on Arsenal.com)
In Argentina yesterday, Arsenal Sarandi held Barracas Central to a goalless draw that denied us the home win to nil we were looking for.
We've come to North America today to catch Arsenal's friendly with Barcelona at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. We reckon Mikel Arteta could strike a blow against the club that raised him.
With the Community Shield just 10 days away, Arteta's men are fast approaching full fitness. Reiss Nelson is the only confirmed absentee, with Oleksandr Zinchenko now almost ready for match action.
The Gunners have enjoyed a mixed bag of results this summer. In the last couple of weeks they've drawn 1-1 with Nurnberg, beaten an MLS All-Stars XI 5-0 and, most recently, lost 0-2 to Manchester United in New York on Saturday.
New signings are starting to bed in, with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all enjoying significant game time. The same can't be said of Barcelona's new boys. Ilkay Gundogan, Oriel Romeu and Inigo Martinez are yet to appear for the Catalans, who had a planned friendly with Juventus cancelled because their squad was hit by a stomach bug.
It's not yet clear who will be available for Xavi to select but, whoever he goes with, Barca have not played a game since early June and there will surely be some ring rust. Arsenal have an edge in terms of fitness, a point to prove after the United defeat and a deeper squad to weather the rotation that often afflicts these games. We'll take the Gunners to win.
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