It’s a battle of two European heavyweights in the USA as Arsenal and Barcelona face off in a pre-season match on Wednesday, July 26 (Thursday morning AM in UK).
The Gunners will be playing their fourth match of the off-season, as they continue to get minutes into new signings Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, with Declan Rice absent from the squad.
After losing to Manchester United 2-0 in their last outing, Arsenal will be keen to build some momentum ahead of August’s Premier League season and the Community Shield against Manchester City in 11 days’ time.
This will be the first pre-season action for Barcelona and is the first of three fixtures in the USA, where they will also play Real Madrid and AC Milan.
Expect the Catalans to ease into the match against a Gunners side that is further ahead in their season preparations.
The Sporting News will be following the Arsenal vs Barcelona match live, providing goal updates, commentary, and highlights as they happen.
MORE: Arsenal preseason fixtures, USA summer tour 2023
Arsenal vs Barcelona live score (1st half)
| 1st Half | Goal scorers | |
| Arsenal | 1 | Bukayo Saka 13′ |
| Barcelona | 1 | Robert Lewandowski 7′ |
Line-ups
Arsenal (4-3-3): Ramsdale (GK) – White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber – Partey, Havertz, Odegaard – Saka, Jesus, Trossard
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): 1. Ter Stegen (GK) – 2. Dest, 4. Araujo, 15. Christensen, 17. Alonso – 18. Oriol Romeu, 14. Gundogan – 22. Raphinha, 8. Pedri, 16. Ez Abde – 9. Lewandowkski.
Arsenal vs Barcelona live updates, highlights, commentary
16th min: Chance Arsenal! Ter Stegen fails to get a good fist on the corner. Saka launches into a volley from the top of the box that looks goal-bound, but it strikes a Barca defender and bounces to safety.
15th min: Chance Arsenal! Jesus tricks his way into the six-yard box from the byline, he squares the ball to Saka but a vital touch deflects it away from the Arsenal attacker. That stopped a certain goal.
13th min: Goal Arsenal! The Gunners strike back! Ben White gives the ball away in attack but a heavy touch from Christensen allows Saka to pounce and lift a shot over Ter Stegen.
12th min: Arsenal have maintained possession since conceding, with Barcelona looking to bounce clear on the counter-attack, much like how they crafted the opening goal
7th min: Goal Barcelona! Odegaard gives the ball away to allow Abde to spring clear down the left. He squares low to Raphinha, but Ramsdale makes an excellent save. Lewandowski is on hand to tuck away the rebound though.
3rd min: Jesus is brought down by Araujo after a splitting through-ball from Havertz. Odegaard swings the free kick in from wide but it’s too deep and Barcelona handle the danger.
1st min: Barcelona kick the ball off and immediately settle in on the ball for the first minute.
Kickoff
2 minutes to kickoff: We’re set to kick off. Arsenal will be in traditional kit and Barcelona are in all white with blue shorts.
30 minutes to kickoff: Arsenal have finally confirmed their starting XI.
🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️
🧱 Saliba at the back
🔙 Partey in the middle
🪄 Trossard on the wing📺 The final game of our USA tour – LIVE on https://t.co/4KJlfKW7rt pic.twitter.com/zJsxIojs8W
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 27, 2023
ALERT: Kickoff has been delayed for 46 minutes until 11.06pm ET, 4.06am BST.
Arsenal v Barcelona has been delayed and will now kick-off at 4:06am (UK time)#ARSFCB #Arsenal #AFC
— AFTV (@AFTVMedia) July 27, 2023
30 minutes to kickoff: We are still waiting for confirmation of Arsenal’s starting XI.
60 minutes to kickoff: Barcelona have announced their starting XI.
🚨 BARÇA XI! 🚨#ArsenalBarça pic.twitter.com/f0ACcXCD1y
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 27, 2023
90 minutes to kickoff: It’s going to be steaming hot at SoFI Stadium in LA tonight with the expected temperature to be around 79°F (26°C) when the match kicks off.
Pre-game: Welcome to SoFI Stadium in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s friendly between Arsenal and Barcelona.
Let’s end our USA tour on a high 👊 pic.twitter.com/kg1z8CnAiY
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 25, 2023
Arsenal vs Barcelona lineups
Declan Rice is absent from Arsenal’s squad with no reason yet made public, while Folarin Balogun is also missing.
New signings Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz will continue to gel with their team-mates, while Thomas Partey gets an opportunity with Rice out.
The likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah and Jorginho should get game time in the second half.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-3-3): Ramsdale (GK) – White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber – Partey, Havertz, Odegaard – Saka, Jesus, Trossard
Arsenal subs (13): Hein, Tierney, Kiwior, Holding, Tomiyasu, Trusty, Jorginho, Vieira, Martinelli, Smith Rowe, Marquinhos, Cozier-Duberry, Nketiah
Barcelona will hand starts to new signings Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez, while Oriol Romeu makes his first appearance for the club since 2011 – after re-signing from Girona.
It’s a strong Barca side that features marquee centre-forward Robert Lewandowski, while the likes of Pedri, Raphinha and Marcos Alonso also start.
Twenty players are listed as substitutes, so expect to see plenty of rotation from coach Xavi Hernandez.
Barcelona starting lineup (4-2-3-1): 1. Ter Stegen (GK) – 2. Dest, 4. Araujo, 15. Christensen, 17. Alonso – 18. Oriol Romeu, 14. Gundogan – 22. Raphinha, 8. Pedri, 16. Ez Abde – 9. Lewandowkski.
Barcelona subs (20): Balde, I. Martinez, Gavi, Dembele, Ansu Fati, Ferran, Lenglet, Inaki Pena, Kessie, S. Roberto, De Jong, Kounde, Eric, Astralaga, M. Casado, Lamine Yamai, Aleix Garrido, Fermin Lopez, Mika Faye, Alex Valle
Arsenal vs Barcelona live stream, TV channel
This preseason friendly takes place at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California and kicks off on Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. local time.
Preseason games are not always available for broadcast or streaming with Arsenal providing an in-house option for supporters.
Arsenal.com will stream the game live to viewers across the world with matchday passes available for £4.99 if bought the day before and £6.99 on the day.
Alongside the option to stream the match across the world via Arsenal.com, certain countries also have dedicated options to watch it, with DAZN covering it in Canada, TV3 in Spain and Astro GO and Sooka in Malaysia.
MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with Fubo in USA and on Fubo in Canada
| Date | Kickoff time | TV | Streaming | |
| USA | Wed, July 26 | 10:30 p.m. ET | — | ESPN+, Arsenal.com |
| Canada | Wed, July 26 | 10:30 p.m. ET | DAZN | Arsenal.com |
| UK | Thu, July 27 | 3:30 a.m. BST | — | Arsenal.com |
| Australia | Thu, July 27 | 12:30 p.m. AEST | — | Arsenal.com |
| India | Thu, July 27 | 8:00 a.m. IST | — | Arsenal.com |
| Hong Kong | Thu, July 27 | 10:30 a.m. HKT | — | Arsenal.com |
| Malaysia | Thu, July 27 | 10:30 a.m. MYT | Astro SuperSport 2 | sooka, Astro Go, Arsenal.com |
| Singapore | Thu, July 27 | 10:30 a.m. SGT | — | Arsenal.com |
| New Zealand | Thu, July 27 | 2:30 p.m. NZST | — | Arsenal.com |
