Arsenal suffered their first defeat of pre-season as Real Betis won 3-1 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Piero Hincapie scored Arsenal’s only goal, heading in from Christos Tzolis’ corner, but Real Betis had already exposed problems in Mikel Arteta’s experimental side.
Arsenal finished with 56.3% possession but managed only two shots on target, compared with seven from Betis. Sky Sports’ full-time Arsenal v Real Betis statistics
Here are the Arsenal player ratings vs Real Betis.
Arsenal player ratings vs Real Betis
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 4
A difficult night. Kepa was caught out for Rodrigo Riquelme’s opener and never looked particularly settled afterwards. He did make four saves, but this was an opportunity to strengthen his claim for minutes and he did not take it.
Ben White – 5
Captained the side but struggled to bring enough control to an unsettled defence. Still building sharpness after his injury lay-off, so context is important.
Cristhian Mosquera – 5
Found himself exposed when Betis broke through midfield. Some comfortable moments in possession, but Arsenal were too easy to attack during the first half.
Piero Hincapie – 7
Arsenal’s best performer. Reduced the deficit with a well-taken header and offered aggression when stepping forward from defence.
With William Saliba unavailable, his importance could grow quickly. ReadArsenal has already looked at why Arsenal still need defensive reinforcement despite Gabriel Magalhaes returning.
Riccardo Calafiori – 5
Frequently pushed high when Arsenal had possession but that occasionally contributed to the space Betis found in transition. A mixed evening.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 5
Given the difficult job of anchoring an unusual midfield. Used possession neatly enough, but could not give Arsenal the control they normally get from Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi.
Kai Havertz – 4.5
Asked to play in midfield and struggled to influence the game. His mistake in possession preceded Pablo Fornals’ third goal shortly before half-time.
Ethan Nwaneri – 5
Some tidy touches without taking control of the game. Arsenal needed more creativity through the middle and Nwaneri found it difficult to provide it consistently.
Max Dowman – 5.5
A quieter evening after his excellent performance against Girona. Still looked willing to receive possession and attack players, but Betis gave him much less room.
Christos Tzolis – 7
Another productive performance.
His excellent corner allowed Hincapie to score, while his delivery from the left gave Arsenal one of their more reliable attacking routes. ReadArsenal covered Tzolis’ encouraging start and his comparison with Alexis Sanchez earlier on Wednesday.
The £34m signing is making a useful early impression.
Viktor Gyokeres – 5
Little service and few opportunities to threaten the Betis goal. Arsenal recorded only two shots on target across the whole match, which tells part of the story.
Gyokeres worked across the front line but rarely received possession in areas where he could hurt Betis.
Arteta made seven changes for the second half and Arsenal improved defensively without seriously threatening a comeback.
Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli both gained useful minutes following their return to the squad, while Gabriel Jesus was also involved.
The main concern was academy midfielder Louie Copley, who was forced off after going down holding his knee. The Sun’s match report from the Aviva Stadium
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