Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger in Singapore for the Barclays Asia Trophy Getty

Arsenal play Singapore Select XI in the first of the few pre-season friendlies under the Barclays Asia Cup banner to be held in Singapore on 15 July.

Where to watch live

Kick-off is set for 1.30pm BST. Live coverage of the game will be on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

Arsenal will be favourites going into the fixture where a win will see them play either Everton or Stoke, who will be battling each other in the other semi-final, in the finals of the tournament.

Being the first friendly of Arsenal's pre-season campaign, Arsene Wenger is likely to make a series of changes to the first team, allowing the likes of Gedion Zelalem and Dan Crowley to express themselves in front of a packed crowd.

With less than three weeks left before their first competitive game against Chelsea in the Community Shield, Wenger will also be looking to make a few adjustments to his much approved formation from the second half of last season and help make the team more comfortable in each other's skin going into the business part of the campaign.

The Frenchman revealed that he will be using his pre-season performances as a yardstick to decide over any further investment in the squad, having brought only Petr Cech to the squad thus far.

Alexis Sanchez will not be a part of Arsenal's pre-season training as he has been given a month off to tide over his exertions in the Copa America, which culminated on 4 July, and come back fresh to help stage a title challenging campaign next month.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who missed a better part of the second half of the season through injury, is likely to be inducted in the role left vacant by Sanchez, as hinted by the manager.

All eyes will be on Cech to deliver in an Arsenal shirt after his much talked about move to north London from Chelsea but Wenger can also hand Wojciech Szczesny some game time to prove himself fit to take the number two spot over David Ospina.

Olivier Giroud will also look to put in a respectable performance with talk about Arsenal being in the market to sign a striker, while Theo Walcott can also stake claim to his long standing dream of starting through the middle after an injury plagued two seasons with the Gunners.

What Managers Say

Arsene Wenger: "I'm happy to be in Singapore. I have been here before, I know it's a very good place, a very safe place and usually things are well organised. So we can hope to have a good combination of competition and preparation in our training sessions, as well as good conditions in our hotel, which is important. We want to win every game. A few years ago nobody was interested in these games but now there is so much interest in the preparation that if you do not win these games it's already a crisis! It's important that you start on a positive foot."

V. Sundramoorthy: "We are not going to park the bus. But we also have to be clever and limit the space and time on the ball (against Arsenal). We will try not to concede early and that will give us a chance to win. We are facing a tough opponent like Arsenal but morale in the team is great. Every player is looking forward to play against these great players. What more motivation do they need?"

Betting Odds (By bwin)

  • Singapore Win: 20/1
  • Draw: 10/1
  • Arsenal Win: 1/19

Team News

Singapore XI

Squad: Izwan Mahbud (LionsXII), Zaiful Nizam (Balestier Khalsa FC), Ismadi Mukhtar (Tampines Rovers FC), Nazrul Nazari (LionsXII), Baihakki Khaizan (JDT II), Madhu Mohana (LionsXII), Safuwan Baharudin (LionsXII), Kento Fukuda (Geylang International FC), Shaiful Esah (Tampines Rovers FC), Hafiz Sujad (LionsXII), Shakir Hamzah (LionsXII), Izzdin Shafiq (LionsXII), Sirina Camara (Home United FC), Nicholas Velez (Warriors FC), Yasir Hanapi (Home United FC), Zulfahmi Arifin (LionsXII), Gabriel Quak (LionsXII), Faris Ramli (LionsXII), Shahdan Sulaiman (LionsXII), Khairul Amri (LionsXII), Fazrul Nawaz (Warriors FC), Shahril Ishak (JDT II), Rodrigo Tosi (Tampines Rovers FC).

Arsenal

Squad: Petr Cech; Wojciech Szczesny, Emiliano Martinez, Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy, Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Dan Crowley, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Iwobi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gedion Zelalem, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Chris Willock, Jack Wilshere, Chuba Akpom, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott.