Arsenal vs Como: Seeking Response After Pre-Season Defeats
The Emirates has seen its fair share of dress rehearsals, but this one carries a little more edge than usual.
Arsenal return home on Wednesday night to face Como, chasing more than just a routine pre-season win. Two defeats on the spin have nudged the mood from relaxed to restless, and with Manchester City looming in the Community Shield, Mikel Arteta knows this final home friendly needs to look and feel different.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm BST, with the game streamed free on the club’s official YouTube channel in the UK, USA, India and Australia. For many supporters, it will be the first full look at a squad still taking shape after a disjointed summer.
Arsenal seek response after bruising week
Pre-season is supposed to be about rhythm, not results. Yet a 3-1 loss to Real Betis followed by a 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund has sharpened the focus.
Arsenal have conceded six goals in two games. The patterns of play remain familiar, but the sharpness has lagged behind the ambition. At this stage of the summer, that is not a crisis. It is, however, a warning.
Como, coached by former Arsenal favourite Cesc Fabregas, arrive with serious credentials of their own. A fourth-place finish in Serie A last season secured Champions League football and underlined the speed of their rise. This is no soft-touch sparring partner flown in for a ceremonial run-out; it is a side built to compete.
Arteta will want a stronger defensive performance and a more ruthless edge in both boxes. The Emirates crowd, back in their seats and measuring every touch, will want the same.
Guimaraes set for first Arsenal minutes
The headline act is likely to be Bruno Guimaraes. The £75million signing from Newcastle was paraded in front of the home fans before the Dortmund game, a statement arrival introduced without a ball kicked in anger.
That should change on Wednesday.
The Brazil international is expected to feature for the first time, though he may not start as Arteta manages his integration carefully after a busy summer schedule. Even a short cameo will be enough to ignite the evening: a first look at how his energy, range of passing and aggression might reshape Arsenal’s midfield.
Arteta has already nailed his colours to the mast over the signing. He has spoken about the “energy” Guimaraes has brought to the training ground, the “hunger” and “desire” to write a big chapter in the club’s history. Those are not throwaway lines. They are a clear indication that Guimaraes is expected to become a central figure quickly.
Supporters tuning in will be watching every touch. How often he drops to receive from the centre-backs. How quickly he plays forward. How he presses. Pre-season or not, first impressions matter.
Thin squad, big opportunities
Arsenal’s squad remains incomplete. Several senior figures are still missing after international duty and staggered returns.
- Martin Odegaard
- Declan Rice
- Eberechi Eze
- Martin Zubimendi
- Mikel Merino
have yet to fully rejoin the group. Jurrien Timber continues to work his way back from a groin problem, while William Saliba faces a longer spell out with a back injury.
Those absences strip away some of the usual security but open doors elsewhere.
Christos Tzolis, who caught the eye against Dortmund, is expected to feature again. His performance in that match offered a flash of directness and intent that Arteta will want to see repeated. Pre-season can define a player’s standing in a squad; Tzolis has positioned himself as one of the more intriguing stories of the summer.
With minutes to manage and legs to protect, rotation will again be heavy. This is the final chance at the Emirates for fringe players and youngsters to convince Arteta they deserve a role when the serious business starts.
Fabregas’ Como bring their own ambition
On the opposite bench stands a familiar silhouette. Fabregas, once the heartbeat of Arsenal’s midfield, now leads a Como side that has quietly built a reputation as one of Italy’s most progressive projects.
Their summer work has underlined that intent. Former Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah has arrived on a five-year deal, a long-term commitment that Fabregas has already framed as a significant statement of ambition. Como may be visitors in name, but they will treat this as a measuring stick for their own European aspirations.
They, too, are missing some returning players, yet the structure and confidence that carried them to fourth in Serie A last season will not vanish in July. For Arsenal, that makes this an examination, not an exhibition.
Final tune-up before the real thing
Strip away the novelty of seeing Guimaraes in red and white and the nostalgia of Fabregas back at the Emirates, and the demands on Arsenal are simple.
- Defend with more authority.
- Control the tempo.
- Show that the lapses against Betis and Dortmund were growing pains, not early warning signs.
This is the last home preparation before a defining stretch: Manchester City in the Community Shield on 16 August, then the start of their Premier League title defence against Coventry City. The margins at the top of the table are too fine to drift into the season still searching for structure.
Pre-season rarely answers every question. But on Wednesday night, under the Emirates lights, Arsenal need to at least show they are asking the right ones.
