Arsenal vs Real Betis kick-off DELAYED as Gunners issue statement | OneFootball

Real Betis have experienced some travel troubles ahead of kick-off

Kick-off time between Arsenal and Real Betis has been delayed due to traffic.

The pre-season friendly at the Aviva Stadium was initially scheduled to kick off at 7.30pm BST, but a decision has now been made to delay the start of the game by 15 minutes, meaning the game will go ahead at 7.45pm instead.

The decision came after Real Betis were delayed by traffic en route to the stadium.

This is Arsenal’s second official pre-season fixture of the summer after beating Girona 4-1 at the weekend thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis, Max Dowman and Gabriel Jesus.

For the game, Gunners boss has named an unchanged team from four days ago, meaning Jesus has to settle for a place on the bench where he is joined by compatriots Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli.

As such, summer signing Tzolis will get the chance to impress again having opened his account for Arsenal against Girona - after claiming an assist in the behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons last month.

"I came here ready, with my fitness level and I was happy that I could show it here as well. I want to be myself and to show on the pitch all the passion and desire to win because I really like to win games and to give everything,” he said ahead of the Betis game.

"If I give 100% for every game and every duel, I think who doesn't like this? I think that's the best thing for a football player, and then you will always have the support from the supporters.

"I'm thinking about how to improve and settle as fast as possible in the club, because I have the opportunity to train directly with the team from the beginning of the season, to play pre-season games and then to go to official games.

"This is a chance to play directly from the beginning and then it's up to me to show the qualities and what I can bring to the team. I'm pretty confident I will show it in the next games."