Super Eagles
forward Alex Iwobi and his Arsenal teammate and latest Emirates Stadium import
Alexandre Lacazette will be hoping to hit target when they face Chelsea on
Saturday in Beijing, China.
The duo have
been in super form scoring goals and posting impressive assist when not in a
better position to personally score in the club's on going pre-season tour.
The Arsene
Wenger tutored side were hit by stomach bug which earlier ruled out some of the
players but have now recovered ahead of the clash with Chelsea with Wenger
submitting that any match between the two rival teams cannot be dubbed a friendly.
A handful of
players fell ill before Wednesday's game against Bayern Munich at Shanghai
Stadium, but Per Mertesacker,
Olivier
Giroud, Sead Kolasinac and Aaron Ramsey both took full part in an open training
session at the Bird's Nest Stadium on Friday.
Theo
Walcott, who like Ramsey finished the Bayern game feeling unwell, only watched
the final part of the session from the sideline. Mertesacker and Giroud missed
that game, while Kolasinac came off in the first half. Manager Arsene Wenger identified
the illness as food poisoning in Shanghai, but the team has since changed the
diagnosis to a stomach bug.
Regardless,
it should give Wenger a few more options when he picks his team for their final
game of the two-week trip to Australia and China.
"Today
we had 21 players fit. Theo Walcott was not ready and I don't think he'll be
ready for tomorrow. But there's nothing major," Wenger said.
Laurent
Koscielny also declared himself available after missing the Bayern game with a
back problem. The French centre-back also took full part in Friday's session to
boost Wenger's defensive options.
"My
back is better," Koscielny said. "I had a little pain on Tuesday
morning, so I did treatment. Today I trained and I was
OK. Not 100
percent, but I'm OK for playing. So we'll see tomorrow."
Over 50,000
fans were at the Bird’s Nest on Friday, with several hundred local Arsenal fans
cheering the team on during training. Before his news conference, Wenger
exchanged gifts with the local organiser, handing over a signed Arsenal shirt in
exchange for a personalised Chinese stamp.
Even though
this is only a friendly, the Gunners are keen to maintain their unbeaten record
on this tour -- especially given the fact that their rivalry with Chelsea will
pick up again at the start of the season. They play each other in the Community
Shield in a fortnight and Arsenal then travel to Stamford Bridge in the fifth
game of the Premier League season.
"It's a
friendly between Chelsea and Arsenal, and that means it's not really a
friendly," Wenger said. "There's always some pride at stake and some
London desire to have superiority.
"We
know each other very well, and it's difficult to know how prepared Chelsea are,
and how far we are with preparations but tomorrow will be a good indication. It
was good against Bayern, and this is another test for us before the
season."
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