Arsenal have announced they will play home games against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao during pre-season
More preparations for Arteta | Michael Steele/GettyImages
**Arsenal have confirmed they will play two games at the Emirates Stadium in August as part of their pre-season campaign.**
The Gunners will welcome La Liga sides Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao to north London on 6 and 9 August respectively. The tie against the latter will take place as the 2025 Emirates Cup, an annual pre-season tournament Arsenal have hosted since 2007.
With Arsenal's Premier League season set to begin with a trip to Manchester United on 17 August, they will relish the opportunity to keep prepared so close to the start of their campaign.
> Back at our home 🏡
>
> We will play two friendlies at Emirates Stadium next month 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) [July 5, 2025](https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1941502253371883634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Arsenal have a busy pre-season ahead of them with just over two weeks to go until it commences. A tour of Asia begins with a friendly against AC Milan before playing Newcastle United and north London rivals Tottenham.
Once the Gunners return to England, they will face two La Liga sides at Emirates Stadium in the space of four days, taking on Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao.
Mikel Arteta's side last faced Villarreal in the semi-finals of the 2020/21 Europa League, losing 2-1 on aggregate to a team managed by former manager Unai Emery. The Spanish club went onto win the tournament.
While Arsenal have never faced off against Athletic, they did recently miss out on signing their star man Nico Williams. They had been long-term admirers of the winger, but [cooled their interest](https://paininthearsenal.com/arsenal-cool-interest-in-winger-high-on-their-transfer-list) when he looked set for a move to Barcelona, only to perform a U-turn and remain in Bilbao.
The tie against Bilbao will be played as the 2025 Emirates Cup, of which the Gunners have won the last three editions. Consecutive victories over Sevilla, Monaco and Lyon have seen the north London club take their number of tournament wins to eight.
These two fixtures should be a good way for Arsenal to end pre-season. After a short tour abroad, it will do the side good to continue their preparations in front of their own fans before getting their season underway a week later.
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