Arsenal in Sydney tickets go on sale, but stars set to miss tour

Arsenal will take on Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers in July next year, but due to the Confederations Cup, some star players are set to miss out.

Source: AFP

Tickets went on sale today for Arsenal's clash against Sydney FC on July 13, 2017 as well as their match against Western Sydney Wanderers on July 15, 2017. 

However star players such as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are unlikely to play, given they will participate in the Confederations Cup, with Germany and Chile respectively, which will take place from June 17, 2017 to July 2, 2017.

Players are often given a few weeks rest after participating in a tournament with their national team, as is the case with Juventus this year, where 13 players have missed the trip to Melbourne.

Other potential absentees include captain Laurent Koscielny and Santi Carzola who will be off contract in July 2017.

The cheapest tickets available for the two matches at ANZ Stadium start from $39.

An Arsenal spokesperson said: "Everyone at Arsenal is looking forward to coming to Australia next summer. It’s been a long time since we’ve been Down Under and will be a great opportunity to give our passionate fans the chance to see the team in action." 

"The two matches against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers will be an important part of our pre-season preparations and we intend to bring our strongest possible squad."

Arsenal legend and current Under 15s coach Freddie Ljungberg was in Sydney last week to promote the Arsenal In Sydney Tour and said the Gunners would not be treating their two-game visit to Australia lightly.

“The Sydney games will be a key part of our pre-season preparation and, as such, the players will be focused and wanting to do well,” Ljungberg said.

It will be Arsenal’s first trip to Australia in 40 years and continues a run of international superclubs playing in Sydney in recent years – Manchester United (2013), Juventus (2014) and Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea (2015).

Sydney FC were the local opponents against Spurs and Chelsea, holding both EPL giants to a 1-0 scoreline.

However, it is the first time the Wanderers have lined up against an EPL club.

Sydney FC v Chelsea drew a capacity crowd of 83,598 – the highest attendance for a football crowd in Sydney since Spain and Cameroon played off for the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (104,098) and before ANZ Stadium was reconfigured after the Games.