- Arsenal preparing for Premier League resumption
- Elneny back from injury
- Underlines importance of hard work
WHAT HAPPENED: Arsenal won their Dubai Super Cup opener on Thursday after defeating French outfit Lyon 3-0. Gabriel Magalhaes, Edward Nketiah, and Fabio Vieira were on target for the Gunners.
Egypt international Elneny was among the players who were involved and he has underlined the importance of the Gunners giving their best in the friendly assignments ahead of the Premier League resumption.
WHAT HE SAID: “I think we’ve worked really hard in training, that’s why in the game we look like this,” Elneny said as quoted by the club's website.
“We have discipline and everyone working really hard. It’s a great message to everyone, we don’t come here for holiday, we’ve come here for work.
“We’re taking it seriously even though it’s a friendly game. We look forward to our Premier League game of course but we have to focus here first to make everything right to build what we actually work on every day. We test ourselves in the games and it’s a good result for us.”
Getty.THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Gunners have been exceptional in the league this season and are currently top of the table with 37 points.
Mikel Arteta's team have won 12 league matches this season out of the 14 played, losing one and drawing one in the remaining two games.
However, Elneny was not involved as much as he may have wished in the past few months owing to an injury. He is now fit and ready to strengthen the Arsenal midfield that has been handled well by Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and captain Martin Odegaard.
The North Londoners will continue their preparations with friendly games against AC Milan and Juventus before playing West Ham United in their first Premier League game post-World Cup.
WHAT NEXT: Arteta will be sharpening his team hoping to sustain their Premier League challenge, as well as Europa League and FA Cup campaigns.
Elneny will be needed to be fit to give the team the much-needed depth.
