Arsenal held by Nuremberg in first pre-season fixture

Bukayo Saka picked up from where he stopped last season, but Arsenal failed to get a win in their 1-1 draw against Nuremberg on Thursday in their first preseason game of the summer. Arsenal were denied their first Premier League title in over 20 years by Manchester City, who won the treble last season.

Arsenal were led by the likes of skipper and midfielder Martin Odegaard, winger Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, and Gabriel Jesus to some extent in their incredible run in the Premier League that ended disappointingly.

While some of those core players were retained, players like Granit Xhaka have left the club for German club side Bayer Leverkusen and Thomas Partey, who has been linked with a move potentially to Saudi Arabia.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has managed to solidify the team with new faces like Kai Havertz, who joined in from Chelsea. At the same time, there is an imminent arrival of Jurrien Timber from Ajax and Declan Rice from West Ham United for a club-record fee.

While Havertz didn’t start the game on Thursday, there were starts for Reiss Nelson, who signed a contract extension this summer, while Eddie Nkethia was in the middle of the front three alongside Bukayo Saka.

Aaron Ramsdale was the goalkeeper, while William Saliba, who also penned a new deal at Emirates Stadium, was flanked by Gabriel and Jacob Kiwior, and Ben White in defense.

Arsenal got an early start with Saka opening the scoring in the seventh minute, but after a flurry of changes early in the second half that saw Kai Havertz make his Arsenal debut, Nuremberg equalized through Japanese player Kanji Okuniki on the hour mark.

Arsenal has three more pre-season fixtures against MLS All-Stars, Manchester United, and Barcelona before the Emirates Cup fixture against AS Monaco and their season opener in the community shield against Manchester City.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu