Should Arsenal fans be worried after Real Betis defeat? Arteta offers his verdict

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·6 August 2026

Should Arsenal fans be worried after Real Betis defeat? Arteta offers his verdict

Arsenal wrapped up their pre-season training camp with a 3-1 defeat to Real Betis in Dublin, but the scoreline alone doesn’t tell the full story.

Real Betis punished the Gunners in the first half, with goals from Riquelme, Nelson Deossa and Pablo Fornals, while Piero Hincapie headed home Arsenal’s only goal from an excellent Christos Tzolis corner.

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However, as is often the case in pre-season, the result was only part of the story.

Another exercise in building fitness

Mikel Arteta’s priority was clearly giving as many players as possible valuable minutes ahead of the new campaign rather than chasing the result at all costs.

Arsenal used 25 players over the course of the evening, making seven changes at half-time before further substitutions followed throughout the second half.

There were encouraging moments despite the defeat. New summer signing Tzolis continued to impress with another creative display, Max Dowman again showed flashes of his quality, while Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli both made their first pre-season appearances after the break.

The only sour note beyond the result was an injury to young defender Louie Copley, who was forced off just ten minutes after coming on in what appeared to be a distressing moment for the academy prospect.

(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Should Arsenal supporters be concerned?

Pre-season results can often look alarming on paper, but they rarely provide the full picture.

Real Betis arrived in Dublin having already won four pre-season matches and looked far sharper in the opening 45 minutes. Arsenal, meanwhile, were once again using the fixture to build match fitness, experiment with combinations and spread minutes across a large squad.

With the Community Shield and Premier League opener now fast approaching, Arteta will undoubtedly want to tighten up defensively after conceding three goals, including two excellent long-range strikes and a goal from a corner.

But it’s also worth remembering that pre-season is about ensuring players are physically and tactically ready for when the competitive action begins, rather than judging a squad on one friendly result.

As reported by Arsenal, when Arteta was asked post-match about the importance of the game he seemed fairly relaxed, responding:

“Well, the important part is to win it, and we didn’t manage to win it, so disappointed obviously for the result. It’s true we used 25 players, so you need to give a bit of context to the game. In the first half with more starters, two very different things: how we played and how we competed, because we had some fantastic moments in the time we played, by the way, we competed especially in and around our box, that’s not the standards that we are used to so there are things to improve obviously, some positives to take from the game and a bad result sometimes it’s good to create even more fire in them.”

Arsenal now return home to face Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup before taking on Como in their final pre-season fixture. Those matches should provide a clearer indication of where the squad stands before competitive football returns.

What did you make of Arsenal’s performance against Real Betis? Is there anything to worry about, or are pre-season results largely irrelevant? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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