Capping off their pre-season preparations in front of the North London crowd, Arsenal defend their Emirates Cup crown against Ligue 1 giants Monaco on Wednesday evening.

The Gunners crushed Sevilla 6-0 last year to win the friendly cup for the sixth time, while Monaco finished in third place in the 2014 tournament during their only previous appearance.

Match preview

A few teething problems have inevitably arisen as Arsenal new boys Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber gel with the squad, and more than a few eyebrows were raised when Manchester United ran out 2-0 winners over Mikel Arteta's side in the United States.

However, Arsenal cut out the individual errors that sparked their downfall against the Red Devils when they butted heads with Barcelona on July 26, putting five goals past the La Liga champions in an exhilarating 5-3 triumph, with the effervescent Leandro Trossard scoring twice on the day.

Barca boss Xavi took issue with Arsenal's intensity in that Los Angeles affair, claiming that their English counterparts treated that exhibition encounter like a Champions League match, which should realistically come as little surprise given that the Gunners are gearing up for their return to the European big time after a seven-year absence.

Before Champions League and Premier League duties take centre stage, Arsenal seek a seventh Emirates Cup title after hitting Sevilla for six in the 2022 edition, which marked their third success from the last four iterations of the friendly tournament, the one aberration being a 2019 defeat to Lyon under Unai Emery.

Another slice of silverware will be on the line for Arsenal this weekend too, as Arteta's men have the honour of battling treble winners Manchester City for Community Shield glory, before another prolonged fight with Pep Guardiola's side for top-flight stardom.

In contrast, Monaco will not be present in the Champions League or any European competition next season following a turbulent campaign under the tutelage of Philippe Clement, who has now handed control of the reins to former Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter.

Following back-to-back third-placed finishes in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns, Monaco were made to pay for defensive deficiencies in the 2022-23 season as they laboured to a sixth-placed finish, finding the back of the net 70 times but shipping 58 at the other end of the field.

A miserable stretch of end-of-season form - which saw Monaco win just one of their last seven games and lose each of their final three - saw the Monegasques board pull the trigger on Clement, whose replacement Hutter has overseen a mixed period of pre-season preparations.

Alongside a trio of successive wins over Real Betis, Leeds United and Bologna, Monaco have also shared the spoils with Union Saint-Gilloise, while falling short against Cercle Brugge and Genoa, losing to the latter 1-0 on Saturday.

Despite finishing one place below Arsenal in the 2014 Emirates Cup, Monaco defeated the Gunners 1-0 that year courtesy of a Radamel Falcao effort, before also dumping Arsene Wenger's men out of the 2014-15 Champions League last 16 on away goals following a 3-3 aggregate draw.