Positives and negatives as Arsenal suffer a 1-0 pre-season loss to Tottenham

North London might be red, but Hong Kong turned white on Thursday as Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat against Sp*rs.

There was some trademark, NLD bite here even with the pre-season context – both sides contributed to a somewhat ill-tempered clash that lacked any real flow. When the football did break out, Thomas Frank’s men had the better of it and they got a deserved goal just before half-time; Pape Sarr robbing Myles Lewis-Skelly of the ball and chipping David Raya from the halfway line.

Matters did not improve by much after the break; the Gunners were left to huff and puff without ever truly looking like they would score. The mundanity of our efforts was only punctured by knocks for Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, while Viktor Gyokeres got a loud reception as he came off the bench later on.

Positives and negatives as Arsenal end their 2025 tour of Asia with a 1-0 loss to their NLD rivals Tottenham Hotspur

It made for a frustrating watch, and here are two positives and three negatives from the first Arsenal loss of the 2025 pre-season tour.

Positive #1: Good pressure high up the pitch

Off-season is a chance to lay out your stall for the year ahead.

For the most part, Arsenal failed to make a good impression on that front but one cannot fault their work rate out of possession.

The players defied their humid environs to force several turnovers in the Sp*rs half, displaying good intensity and anticipation to create moments for quick transitions high up. However, it ultimately led to the biggest irritation on the night – a failure to make a single attack count – and that is proven by some damning statistics: 16 shots, only one on target.

Profligacy up top is not news to the Arsenal faithful but that does not make it any easier to witness; perhaps Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze can help address it next term...   

Negative #1: Tottenham dominate the match

Gooners are used to seeing their team keep the ball. This time, though, Sp*rs were the side dictating the tempo.

Strangely, the stats tell a different version as Arsenal ended the game with 57% possession (no doubt helped by our late, purposeless rondo session). But the eyes saw a red and white outfit that were not at the races, that found themselves second to every loose ball and which simply could not build any momentum from start to finish.

It allowed our rivals to run out as comfortable winners and they were only unlucky not to have won it by more – Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Micky van de Ven all spurned great chances to extend the Sp*rs advantage.  

Fans will not care too much, provided that we buck up when the Premier League returns…

Positive #2: Substitutes make an impact

I was banking on a Gyokeres debut goal for my ‘positives’ section but here we are, scraping the barrel instead.

If not from the score or the overall performance, then perhaps Mikel Arteta can take heart from the impact of his substitutions. First off, the arrival of Martin Zubimendi brought composure and fluidity to our midfield, then Max Dowman added a bit of spark in the final stages (WHY WAS HE SUBBED ON SO LATE?).  

A special mention should be made for Reiss Nelson who, just as he did last week versus AC Milan, got fans out of their seats with an energetic display. He sadly does not seem to have a future at Arsenal, but his bright pre-season contributions of late might at least help the club to make good money from a sale.

On the subs front, it was a tad disappointing that Gyokeres did not get much of a look-in at all but I am sure he will get more minutes next week.

Negative #2: Injury scares

Some cited the risks of playing your rivals in pre-season matches beforehand – thankfully, Arsenal did not pay the price of injury via any heavy challenges.

However, there were a few scares in this match: Lewis-Skelly and Saka both went down in pain during it while Trossard had to come off less than 20 minutes after his introduction. Though it seemed like a minor problem, the boss said post-match that he will need to be assessed.

These troubles follow on from the minor injury to Riccardo Calafiori on Sunday and even though none of them look likely to be ruled out long-term, Arteta will hope it is not a sign of things to come for next season.

Arsenal have added lots of depth this summer, but no one wants to see the boss forced to resort to it before the campaign even starts.  

Negative #3: Set-piece frailties resurface

After being our Achilles heel for so long under Arsene Wenger, it had seemed like Arteta had fixed it in recent years and even turned it into his greatest weapon.

But the old set-piece frailties struck big time in Hong Kong and David Raya was lost at sea. Early on, the Spaniard got nowhere near a corner that ended up hitting the far post, and he did the same thing again soon after as Richarlison missed from point-blank range.

Then it was his teammates’ turn in the second half as Arsenal failed to clear a corner, with a second cross moments later finding Micky van de Ven at the back stick – the Dutchman should have scored but could only head it wide.

Okay, this was a ‘friendly’ match and Gabriel Magalhaes will help massively in both boxes upon his imminent return from injury. Yet the degree to which we struggled was alarming to witness and you can only hope that it was a one-off.

Nicolas Jover could have a busy few weeks ahead.