Arsenal to face Real Betis in Dublin pre-season friendly on August 6

Arsenal will meet Real Betis in a pre-season friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on Thursday, August 6, at 12:00 am IST, in a fixture that pits the reigning English champions against the Spanish side preparing for Champions League football this season.

Both teams arrive in good recent form: Arsenal opened their pre-season with a 4-1 victory over Girona, while Real Betis followed a 4-0 win over Lyon in their most recent outing. Mikel Arteta will lead Arsenal as they aim to retain top English honours, while Manuel Pellegrini remains in charge of Betis; Pellegrini’s résumé includes previous spells at Manchester City, Real Madrid and West Ham.

Arsenal have not been especially active in the transfer market but added Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, with Tzolis scoring in the last game, as the club sought to keep the core group that helped the Gunners reach the UCL final. Real Betis have signed Fran Garcia from Real Madrid but have seen departures including Sergi Altimira, Cédric Bakambu and Ezequiel Ávila.

Form lines recorded in the source list Arsenal (in all competitions): W-D-W-W-W and Real Betis (in all competitions): W-L-W-W-W. In Arsenal’s 4-1 preseason win, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were among the scorers, and Betis’ latest victory was a 4-0 result over Lyon.

Viktor Gyökeres is described in the source as a world-class striker who performed decently for Arsenal following a high-profile move from Sporting CP; the material also states he scored for the Sweden national team in the FIFA World Cup and helped them advance past the group stages. The source adds that Gyökeres finished as the club’s top goal scorer last season and that he played a role in helping the Gunners win the top English honours after nearly two decades.

Héctor Bellerín is noted as a Spanish full-back who will face his former side in Dublin; the source says he previously wore jerseys for FC Barcelona and Sporting CP, has been with Real Betis since 2023, and reached the UEFA Conference League final. The source characterises Bellerín as a veteran presence on the right flank for the Verdiblancos and says he will look to make overlapping runs to contribute offensively.

On availability, the source reports William Saliba is absent and that Ben White had fitness concerns but started the last game and is expected to continue. Real Betis are said to be missing Diego Conde and Ismael Barea through injury. The source also presents expected lineups: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Ben White, Yerson Mosquera, Piero Hincapié, Riccardo Calafiori; Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz; Max Dowman, Viktor Gyökeres, Christos Tzolis for Arsenal, and Álvaro Valles; Héctor Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Natan, Fran García; Nelson Deossa, Fabricio Bernal, Marc Roca; Pablo Fornals, Pol García, Rodrigo Riquelme for Real Betis.

The source’s prediction for the friendly is Arsenal 3-1 Real Betis, and it states the match can be streamed in India on FanCode.