As the Bundesliga champions were easily defeated in north London, the German and Brazilian talents stood out in particular.

Although there have been doubts about Arsenal’s ability to score enough goals, on Wednesday at Emirates Stadium, the Gunners easily defeated Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 in a preseason friendly. Against a German club that was much below Xabi Alonso’s expectations following such an incredible 2023–24 campaign, Mikel Arteta’s team was on fire from the start.

 

In their penultimate friendly before the Premier League season began, the north London team scored goals through Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz, among others. However, there were many more impressive performances from players wearing the renowned red jersey.

 

After a superb play that saw Havertz released down the left wing, Zinchenko gave the Gunners the lead just eight minutes into the match. With plenty of room to manoeuvre, he cut the ball back into the area, where Martin Odegaard set up a fake so Zinchenko could roll it and shoot it into the bottom corner.

 

The home team doubled that lead in just one minute, and more neat ball handling was the reason for it. Havertz again provided the assist as Trossard won possession and sparked a clever passing move that ended with the Belgian in the ideal position to slot home from inside the box following a mistake from Leverkusen and Arsenal’s intense pressing.

 

After then, things calmed down for a while, but Arsenal continued to dominate their German rivals and scored a third goal after 38 minutes.

 

 

When Leverkusen gave up the ball far up the pitch, Jesus grabbed it, raced down the left side, cut inside and fired past Matej Kovar.

 

As he sent the squad out for the second half, Arteta made some significant adjustments that let Bukayo Saka get in on the action.

 

With a positive attitude, the Englishman went past a Leverkusen defender and fired a dangerous ball into the heart of the box. Aleix Garcia blocked the ball, but it fell just enough for Havertz to score the goal he earned against his old team.

 

Leverkusen was able to score a goal later on thanks to Arsenal’s numerous substitutions in the second half, but the damage had already been done, and Arteta will feel that there were much more advantages than disadvantages.

 

The victors and losers from Emirates Stadium are broken down by GOAL.

 

 

Kai Havertz is the winner.

The Germany international faced the squad that helped drive him to the Premier League and had a huge impact on Arsenal’s assaults right away. He did a great job moving the ball into the middle for Zinchenko to smash home, and his deft pass soon after gave the Gunners a lot of breathing room by setting up Trossard. After sixty-six minutes, he scored a well-deserved goal to make it 4-0, demonstrating his excellent positioning in the second half.

Typical of Havertz, he wasn’t only anchored in one section of the field. In order to help his team win the ball and relieve pressure on the other players, he was helpful in dropping back and causing mayhem.

After leading this team to victory from midfield, Arteta may move the Germany international back to the No. 10 position, which would undoubtedly lessen the pressure on him to score goals alone. He ended the previous season playing more of a center-forward role.

LOSER: Vieira, Fabio

Arsenal had a great first half performance, and although certain players’ substitutions at halftime were expected, it was unimaginable that Fabio Vieira would return for the second half following his 45-minute outing.

He was the only member of the home squad who absolutely failed against their German opponents; despite having numerous touches, he never looked good with the ball and his passes were appalling. Saka ended up replacing him at halftime.

The 24-year-old made just 11 Premier League games last season, including just two as a starter. If he is to have any impact in north London this year, he will obviously need to improve significantly. Clearly unimpressed, Arteta chose not to allow him to continue even with his team well ahead.

 

WINNER: Gabriel Jesus

Jesus will believe that in order to earn a spot on an Arsenal side that is looking to end a 20-year Premier League title drought at the cost of a championship-winning team like Manchester City, he must perform very well this season.

In his 27 league games last season, he only managed four goals, and many think the Gunners must upgrade on the Brazilian attacker if they want to go above and beyond and take home a significant trophy.

But Jesus has been playing well in the preseason, receiving high marks from his manager, and this was again another charming effort. He worked hard everywhere on the pitch, even when he wasn’t posing a direct threat to the goal, and late in the first half, he was rewarded for his efforts when he crashed into the net to further silence his detractors.

Florian Wirtz, LOSER

Last season, Florian Wirtz was again, rather remarkable at moments, scoring 11 goals and setting up another 11, helping Leverkusen win the Bundesliga. His subsequent performances at Euro 2024 were impressive, as he scored goals against Spain and Scotland while the hosts, Germany, were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

But at Emirates Stadium, there was no sign of the inventive and decisive No. 10 that supporters are accustomed to seeing. For starters, the Gunners were able to score their second goal because he was caught looking indifferent when the ball came to him and promptly lost it. He was rather ineffective with the ball and gave it away needlessly later in the game, so he was never able to get over his rustiness.

He’s been touted to reach the highest level and is anticipated to continue developing at the age of 21, but Alonso will need to get him in shape if he wants him to play a significant role in their next Bundesliga title defence.

Victor: Miguel Arteta

It was not anticipated that the English club would have an easy time playing a Bayer Leverkusen team that only dropped one game during the 2023–24 season.But Arteta’s team made it seem easy with their neat passing, intense pressing, and solid defensive structure, which kept their German opponents quiet and let the powerful Premier League runners-up run rings around them.

Although he would be happy to see the big names perform so well, his adjustments also gave Arsenal the opportunity to vary up their approach while still dominating their opponents. Even though they let up a goal later on, Arsenal’s youthful starting lineup by the end of the game still looked strong, something the Spanish coach will take very positively into the upcoming campaign.

 

Xabi Alonso, Loser

With so much riding on his shoulders during the 2023–24 season, which saw him rise to the top of the European coaching rankings and turn down offers from Real Madrid and Liverpool to stay in Germany, Alonso will be closely watched in the coming year.

Their exhilarating approach as a team and his tactical acumen were key factors in their victory in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, which propelled them to the Europa League final. The excitement surrounding this club did not increase during their visit to north London, although football fans will be curious to watch how he pushes them even further in the 2024–25 season.

His side was never at its best in this match as they were unable to handle the pressure, strength, and pace of Arsenal. They gave the home team possession in crucial areas due to a number of blunders they made, and even some of their most important players wasted excellent chances.In order to sustain the enthusiasm they created during the previous season