Arsenal are preparing to take on Villarreal and Athletic Club in their final pre-season fixtures before the 2025/26 campaign commences.
Mikel Arteta could select a player against the Spanish sides who Unai Emery picked in his first ever game in charge of the Gunners back in 2018.
A lot has changed in the seven years since the North Londoners took on Boreham Wood at Meadow Park, with a change in the managerial hot-seat sparking a rise from Champions League qualification hopefuls to perennial title challengers.
Entering the 2018/19 season, Emery was tasked with succeeding the legendary Arsene Wenger and forging his own identity at the Emirates.
While the now Aston Villa boss’ tenure in N5 ultimately ended in disappointment, he got off to an encouraging start in the summer of 2018.
How Arsenal lined up against Boreham Wood back in 2018
Arsenal began their 2018 pre-season with an encounter against non-league side Boreham Wood at Meadow Park, a venue which the Gunners’ under-21s and Women’s team play at regularly.
The first Arsenal line-up not named by Wenger in over 22 years contained players predominantly bought by the Frenchman or developed through the academy, with one new signing included.
The starting line-up: Petr Cech, Hector Bellerin, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gunners strolled to a comprehensive victory in Hertfordshire, putting eight past Boreham Wood goalkeeper Craig Ross.
A hat-trick from Aubameyang and goals from Nelson, Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured Emery his first win as Arsenal boss.
The notable name in the line-up is Nelson, who is the only remaining member of the entire 24-man squad on the day still plying his trade in North London.
Nelson is now a target for Fulham, but could yet still feature in some capacity for Arteta against Villarreal and Athletic Club.
In 2018, the winger was an exciting talent developing through the Hale End academy, threatening to break into the first team.
Emery sent him on loan to Hoffenheim for the duration of the 2018/19 season, where he enjoyed a relatively productive spell when not injured.
The Arsenal substitutes
Being the first match of pre-season, Emery unsurprisingly rang the changes in the second half, making a total of 12 subs.
Chuba Akpom was the only player who didn’t get off the bench, with the tactician calling upon Emi Martinez, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac, Matteo Guendouzi, Aaron Ramsey, Reine-Adelaide, Mkhitaryan, Nketiah, Lucas Perez and Carl Jenkinson.
A talented mix of players, although some were deemed surplus to requirements by Emery.
Reine-Adelaide departed permanently for Angers, while Perez left for West Ham.
Sokratis and Guendouzi were the first post-Wenger signings to feature for the Gunners – the only against Boreham Wood – before Arsenal added Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno and Stephan Lichtsteiner to Emery’s ranks that summer.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
