Arsenal’s pre-season woes are a sign of what’s to come if Declan Rice and Co aren’t back sooner rather than later

ARSENAL’S pre-season struggles are a warning sign for what might happen if their World Cup stars are not back sharpish. And the Gunners will be desperate to get new £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes ready for action as soon as possible to make things right. Mikel Arteta will be desperate to have his World Cup stars back amid Arsenal’s pre-season struggles Credit: Alamy Borussia Dortmund beat Arsenal 3-2 in the Emirates Cup on Sunday Credit: Getty The reigning champions have leaked six goals in two consecutive pre-season defeats as Mikel Arteta battles to manage his bare-bones squad. Sunday afternoon’s 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium marked the first time since April 2023 that Arsenal conceded three or more goals in consecutive games. Sign up for the Arsenal newsletter Thank you! It followed their 3-1 defeat to Real Betis in Dublin on Wednesday and will have alarm bells ringing for Arteta with the Community Shield just SIX days away. Arsenal kick off their campaign proper with a trip to Cardiff this Sunday, taking on Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the annual curtain raiser. City have dispatched teams like Atletico Madrid in pre-season and are already playing with top returning players like Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush. But Arteta finds himself without a host of top stars, which has made his champions look like a shadow of their usual selves in pre-season. England quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Ebere Eze, and world champions Mikel Merino, David Raya and Martin Zubimendi will only begin their pre-season preparations today. Martin Odegaard played just 30 minutes against Dortmund after returning to training last week, and he will need more minutes in the tank before he can be trusted to play a full game. Most read in Sport Arsenal are still waiting on their England World Cup stars to return Credit: Getty Spanish trio Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino and David Raya have also been absent Credit: Getty BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Meanwhile Jurrien Timber and William Saliba both remain out with groin and back injuries, respectively, and are not expected to return for the start of the season. The absence of those players has been felt throughout Arsenal’s pre-season. Yesterday’s defeat to Dortmund showed Arsenal’s defensive frailties when Saliba and Timber are unavailable. Cristhian Mosquera fell asleep, allowing Samuele Inacio to ghost in behind him and score the opener for Dortmund. And Arsenal finished the game with 18-year-old prospect Theo Julienne at right-back after Ben White was substituted – showing their lack of depth in that position without Timber. Arteta revealed after the game that both Timber and Saliba are still some way from returning to the fold. The Arsenal boss said: “Jurrien is progressing really well. He’s on the pitch, he’s doing quite a lot right now. But he’s still weeks away. I cannot tell you how much. “And William is in rest mode at the moment for two weeks. He had to do almost nothing, don’t aggravate the injury. It’s going to take some time to heal. We know that.” In midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly has been operating out-of-position as a lone No6. Given his inexperience in that area, attacking players have run riot around him without an experienced head to help him through the game. William Saliba is set to miss an extended period with a back injury Credit: Getty Arteta has claimed Jurrien Timber is still going to be out for “weeks” with his groin issue Credit: Getty That was evidenced when Konstantino Karetsas stormed through Arsenal’s midfield as if it didn’t exist before firing a curling effort in for Dortmund’s second goal. Guimaraes, who was paraded out on the pitch before kick-off, can be the man to help solve that problem when Arsenal take on City on Sunday – but only if he is ready in time. Arteta will be desperately scrambling to integrate the Brazilian into training and get him up to scratch during their final pre-season friendly against Como on Wednesday. Jude Bellingham was watching from the stands too, at the Emirates to support his brother Jobe who started in midfield for Dortmund. And what Arteta would give to have a superstar like him available to command the middle of the park in the absence of Rice and Zubimendi. The Arsenal duo haven’t kicked a ball since the World Cup, and their return seems unlikely before Sunday’s Community Shield. However, Arteta said that some of his World Cup returnees could be put on a fast track back to action if they were used sparingly during the summer tournament. He added: “We have very different groups within the same time that they are coming back. New signing Bruno Guimaraes was paraded out on the Emirates pitch on Sunday Credit: Getty Jude Bellingham watched his brother Jobe from the stands Credit: Reuters “Some of them, they’ve done more. Others, they’ve done less. Some of them, they almost didn’t participate in the World Cup in terms of minutes. So they are all very different stages.” There are still some positives in the performance of new addition Christos Tzolis, who continued his pre-season form by getting an assist and winning a penalty. But it feels paramount that Arteta gets some of his stars back as soon as possible, with Arsenal facing a monstrous start to the season. The Gunners take on Man City, Coventry, Aston Villa and Chelsea in a tricky start to their title defence. If they have to face those challenges without their best players back in action, they could hit a stumbling block or two – leaving them playing catch-up in the title race. Comment now