Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank has a ‘great feeling’ heading into today’s north London derby.
Thomas told SPURSPLAY: ‘I have a great feeling, I think it’s going to be a great challenge, we all know that. It’s a north London derby, the first outside the UK, and we’re looking forward to it in front of all our fans here. We’ll be ready for it.
‘I’m quite relaxed about it. The better opponents we can play will help us get up to the level we want to be in three weeks’ time. For me, it’s a fantastic test.’
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is looking forward to playing a north London derby on foreign soil today.
‘It’s a great idea,’ Arteta said in his pre-match press conference. ‘I think to bring football tradition, a rivalry, but at the same time to do it in a completely different country, I think it’s brilliant.
‘I think it’s an opportunity for everybody to feel that and for us as well, because for our preparation, increases the competition level again and it brings a different challenge to the game and then we’re going to be so lucky to play in this incredible stadium with 50,000 people that I’m sure they’re going to be super loud and passionate.’
The new 2025-26 Premier League season gets started on August 15 as champions Liverpool host AFC Bournemouth in an 8pm kick-off.
Tottenham play promoted side Burnley in their opening match on August 16 at 3pm in north London.
Arsenal face a trip to Manchester United in their first top-flight match, which gets underway at 4.30pm on August 17.
New Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres is on the bench for today’s game!
He could be set to make his (pre-season) debut in Hong Kong if he comes on.
Interestingly, he’s already broken a club record after his £64m arrival from Sporting CP.
Not long to go until the action gets underway here in Hong Kong.
Arsenal vs Tottenham kicks off in one hour – 12.30pm BST.
UK viewers can watch the pre-season clash on Arsenal’s website, where the match can be live streamed for £4.99.
Fans can also watch the game on SpursPlay, which is £45 for a yearly subscription.
Arsenal vs Tottenham will get underway at 12.30pm UK time today.
The local kick-off time in Hong Kong is 7.30pm – which is 12.30pm BST (British Summer Time) over here in the United Kingdom.
Good morning and welcome to today’s live blog with Arsenal and Tottenham set for a battle out in Asia.
While it’s technically a ‘friendly’, both sides will be desperate to avoid defeat here given the fierce rivalry between the two clubs.
There was lots of discussion and debate over the summer regarding which north London side had the ‘better season’ in 2024-25.
Spurs won the Europa League and finished 17th in the Premier League – while Arsenal were top-flight runners-up and Champions League semi-finalists but didn’t land a trophy.
All eyes are now on today’s clash and you can follow all of the action with our dedicated live blog…