0 - 1 Robin van Persie 33' or thereabouts
1 - 1 Pablo Aimar 49'
2 - 1 Nolito 60'

Benfica defeated Arsenal today in a surprisingly aggressive affair, winning the Eusebio Cup in the process, which one supposes is only fair. (The cup itself was ugly; you wouldn't have wanted it, anyway). The first half went much better for Arsenal than did the second, particularly after they spun up to the speed of Benfica's pressing; the second half, well, was a bit poopy and hints at problems that Arsenal may have with squad depth this year.

Benfica have already played a round of Champions League qualifying, and thus their squad was fitter overall than Arsenal today. This was apparent in the first half, as from the off, Arsenal were struggling a bit with the speed and the intensity of Benfica's pressing. The Gunners found no room in the middle and could not maintain midfield possession for the first half hour or so, but they did manage to generate a little bit of threat down the flanks, primarily through the runs of Gervinho.

The Ivorian and Andrei Arshavin both tested keeper Eduardo as Arsenal started to penetrate the Benfica back four, and Gervinho Gibbs sparked the opener, taking an overlap from Kieran Gibbs Arshavin and getting to the byline before cutting a low cross which van Persie turned home from six yards.

The first half ended contentiously, though. Ezequiel Garay came in late on van Persie and trod on his foot; Robin was down for a few minutes and looked to require the cart before shaking it off. He was able to finish the half, and hopefully it's not a serious injury. Apparently the spikiness of that moment carried over, as there were unconfirmed reports on twitter of a bit of a tussle in the tunnel before the second half.

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Benfica vs. Arsenal
Kickoff: 2:45 PM EDT, Today, August 6, Lisbon, Portugal
TV Coverage: Arsenal.com/Arsenal Player (subscribers only)

Arsenal travel to Lisbon to play their final preseason warmup today at the Estadio da Luz. There are a number of key players missing from the squad, and Arsène Wenger explained why in his press conference for the official site:

"Walcott is back in training but he is not ready just yet," he began. "Wilshere is injured on his ankle and it is very difficult to set a concrete deadline on his comeback.

"Nasri has a muscular problem. Cesc is just coming back from injury and he is not ready to play in the game. Diaby is out and Koscielny has a small muscular problem.

"Bendtner and Eboue are not in the squad because they might be going out of the Club.

"Koscielny and Nasri might be back for the start of the season. I don't think Fabregas will be ready to start the season because he has been out for a long time and has had no games. Walcott might be back and, as for Wilshere, it is very difficult to say."

So. That leaves a probable starting lineup of (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Ramsey, Rosicky; Arshavin, van Persie, Gervinho.

The subs bench is a little thin, obviously.

The official lineup: exactly as predicted above.

Benfica vs. Arsenal
Kickoff: 2:45 PM EDT, Saturday, August 6, Lisbon, Portugal
TV Coverage: Arsenal.com/Arsenal Player (subscribers only)

Arsenal take on Portuguese runners-up Benfica in their final preseason warmup of the summer tomorrow in Lisbon. Apparently this match is the final of something called the "Eusebio Cup". I can only hope that Eusebio himself will be there, because he is AWESOME*.

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The Premier League is eleven days away, and the 13th of August means Newcastle and St James' Park, ready or not. If one were to try to mix all of the thousands of Arsenal blogs, the hundreds of newspaper and television reports, and the millions of supporters into a kind of stew, it would probably taste faintly of vinegar, old carrots, and dread. But come the 13th, it's football, and the stew is momentarily set aside to cool off.

Let's take a brief look at the state of things as of today at Arsenal:

The starting XI

Arsenal's starting eleven at St James' probably will read as follows: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Wilshere, Ramsey; Nasri, van Persie, Walcott.

Cesc Fabregas, of course, would normally be in Ramsey's place, but the leg problem that has kept him out of preseason matches so far means that he hasn't kicked a ball in anger since April. The likelihood of him being ready for matches before September is small.

Gervinho could start in either Samir Nasri or Theo Walcott's spot with ease. Walcott has been dealing with problems in his bad ankle for a bit during preseason and may not be fully ready, and Nasri's future remains overcast. Having Gervinho, though, gives Arsenal a direct, clinical option off the bench (as Michael Cox of Zonal Marking explains in detail), and it may not be long before he's starting anyhow. Andrei Arshavin, too, is an option lurking in the subs (mmmmmmmm...subs), and he has been looking lively and sounding hungry so far this summer.

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1-0 van Persie 42
1-1 Bartley (og) 84

As on Saturday, Arsenal again did all the right things for 60 minutes against the Red Bulls. Facing a well organised defence that dropped deep, they created chances, got a goal, and by pressing, prevented the Red Bulls from creating any sort of attack. Indeed, Theirry Henry was well marshaled by Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen, and it was only when Arsenal made changes and other players tired that the Red Bulls got back into the game.

Arsenal started brightly, but lost Jack Wilshere early on to an ankle problem, that will likely see him out of action for 10 days. Young striker Benik Afobe came on, and Tomas Rosicky moved into the midfield. Arsenal would dominate possession in the first half, with 66%, and completed 92% of their passes. Rosicky, in particular, was very impressive, displaying his usual quick turn and spreading the ball around excellently. With more pressure on him, he may have not been as good, as he might have not had the space, but today he was excellent, and some of that quality that we saw before his long term injury seems to have returned. Aaron Ramsey was also encouraging. He is, of course, not as good as Cesc Fabregas, but if Arsenal are to lose their talismanic skipper, Aaron Ramsey seems a better replacement than Samir Nasri (there'll be more on that later this week).

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Arsenal vs. New York Red Bulls
Sunday, July 31, 11:20 AM EDT
TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Arsenal Player (audio only, for subscribers)
SBN Coverage: Once a Metro
NYRB Preview here.

Arsenal take on New York Red Bulls in the final match of the Emirates Cup today.

This means one thing: Thierry Henry.

Feel free to comment on all the action below.

1 - 0 Robin van Persie 29'
2 - 0 Aaron Ramsey 46'
2 - 1 Lucas Viatri 68'
2 - 2 Pablo Mouche 71'

Arsenal started their Emirates Cup today with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors of Argentina in a match that the Gunners dominated until about 55 minutes in, when they stopped doing good things and started doing tired things.

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Arsenal will take on New York Red Bulls in the final match of the Emirates Cup tomorrow. Here to help us take a look at the MLS side is Ben Schneider, Managing Editor of Once a Metro, SBN's New York Red Bulls blog. Ben is also a frequent commenter here as well as being an Arsenal supporter.

Emirates Cup Scouting Report: New York Red Bulls

The New York Red Bulls come into this weekend's Emirates Cup off the back of their worst run of form in the tenure of head coach Hans Backe, with a tired squad badly lacking in proven depth. The team's record in friendly tournaments is mixed, with several poundings at the hands of Barcelona (who were frequent summer opponents for many years) mixed with decent results against Mexican Primera sides and some European opponents.

In spite of their poor form, the Red Bulls have one of the most talented starting XIs in Major League Soccer, have recorded some good results this season, and definitely have a bit of tenacity and fight about them. New York hasn't won nearly enough games, but they have pulled many draws back from losing positions, including this past weekend against FC Dallas, when a brilliant Thierry Henry strike bailed out the ten-man Red Bulls.

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