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Home comforts for Arsenal

Author: Rose Young
Date: 02/08/2009

Absent of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, though £40million richer, the next concern for Arsenal is to host the Emirates Cup.

The two-day pre-season tournament is the fourth instalment since its inception in 1997, with this year's opponents for the Gunners being Paris St Germain, Rangers and Atletico Madrid.

Arsenal are to take on the La Liga side on the first day of fixtures, before a battle of Britain with Rangers on August 2.

The tournament is to promote attacking football, a philosophy that is synonymous with so many sides at the Emirates Stadium and Highbury down the years.

Should any sides be tied at the top of the table on points, goal difference and goals scorer, the winner of the Cup will be determined by shots on target.

And with the likes of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan and Ludovic Giuly set to be on show in London, there is likely to be plenty of goal-scoring chances to be had.

For Arsenal, the next few weeks of pre-season are vital. Their Premier League title challenge is a much less-fancied punt among online betting and the momentum at Manchester City has seen many Gunners fans look nervously over their shoulders.

For Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, the Emirates Cup is the first chance to see his charges handle life without Adebayor and Toure in front of quality European opposition.

The tournament provides an opportunity for the likes of Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner to prove their worth to Wenger, who has been tipped to dip into the transfer market to find a striker to replace by Adebayor.

If the fit-again Eduardo or Bendtner can get among the goals early, they could press their claims as the player to lead the Gunners line.

The way Wenger utilises Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin will be another area of interest. Both players are used to wide roles with the club but either could find themselves playing from the front this season.

Who will win the Emirates Cup? Latest Football Betting

If Arsenal struggle in the forthcoming tournament, it may spur Wenger on to spend some of the reported £40million the club have received for Toure and Adebayor.

It is likely that Wenger will bring in another defender to replace the Ivory Coast international, despite the arrival of Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax, who should make his Emirates Stadium debut this weekend.

Arsenal kick off their Emirates Cup campaign against Atletico on Saturday, after the preceeding clash between Rangers and PSG.

The hosts will aim to regain the trophy that they won in 2007, after losing out to Hamburg last season.

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