Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur opened up their Asian tour in the best possible manner with a 1-0 win over near neighbours Arsenal as Pape Matar Sarr scored a spectacular goal to sink Spurs’ fiercest Premier League rivals.
In one of SBOTOP’s pick of summer friendlies, this was one we simply couldn’t leave out, and it certainly delivered as the Whites inflicted a first defeat of pre-season on the Gunners and grabbed a slice of the bragging rights in North London in the process. Of course, this club friendly match was a warm-up and a chance for Mikel Arteta and new Spurs boss Thomas Frank to continue their fine tuning, but I’d rather be a Spurs fan right now than a Gunner.
Yes, Arteta’s team are the second favourites to win the league this coming season, according to the early Premier League 2025 betting odds. The Gunners have been spending and they look equipped for the challenge but, once again, it will be a tough ask, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea all strengthening this summer. Arsenal have been runners up for three seasons running and that is a habit their fans would rather shed.
Tottenham have been in the shadow of their neighbours for too long, but the momentum began to shift, ever so slightly, right at the end of the campaign as Arsenal finished trophy-less, while Spurs won the Europa League to qualify for the 2025/26 Champions League.
This could be the season of Sarr
Tottenham defensive midfielder Pape Matar Sarr backed up his double in a 2-2 draw with Wycombe Wanderers last week with the stunning winner to sink the Gunners in Hong Kong on Thursday. He was a surprise hero in the draw with the League 1 side but this time he put a huge smile on the faces of Spurs fan with the winner, and the manner in which it was scored. The 22-year-old Senegal star robbed Lewis Myles-Skelly on the half way line and then, after taking a quick look up, he rifled his shot over Arsenal keeper David Raya and into the net.
This game always has needle and the Gunners tried to claim there was a foul on Lewis-Skelly in the build up but the referee wasn’t interested. From an early age Sarr has had the ability to shoot accurately from long range, but Arsenal fans took to social media to lay the blame at Raya’s door, asking why he thought he was a centre back!
Gyokeres get a sighter
While Spurs have an unlikely player who is scoring for fun in pre-season, the Gunners hope they have found a man who can bag them plenty of goals when the serious stuff begins. The biggest Premier League 2025 news to emerge from North London this summer was the arrival of Viktor Gyokeres at the Emirates in a $74m move from Sporting Lisbon. He was presented to the Arsenal fans last week and Gyokeres made a 13-minute cameo in the loss to Spurs. And he’ll have another chance to get to know his new team-mates when they face Villarreal at the Emirates next week.
With a goal a game record in his two years in Lisbon, the former Coventry City star will be keen to open his Arsenal account as soon as possible, in any format of the game. And the Gunners will be keen to get back to winning ways after beating both AC Milan and then Newcastle United out in the Far East before falling to Tottenham.
So far so good for Frank
It can’t feel much better in a pre-season friendly that to lead your new team to a derby win, albeit thousands of miles from home. Frank is looking to restore pride to Spurs this season after a 17th placed finish last year and he has the league and Champions League to prepare his team for, where the calibre of team he faces will be consistently high.
Sarr’s spectacular strike was not against the run of play as Spurs rattled the woodwork three times in the first half. Two of the chances came from corners as Richarlison missed both of them by the thickness of the post and that will be pleasing for Frank who has been working on set pieces, an area Spurs struggled with last season while Arsenal excelled.
These are early days but, with the dust cleared from Spurs’ trophy cabinet and a bright new manager, things could be looking up for the Whites…though they have been in this position before and Frank needs to make it count.
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