Arsenal lost a second game in six days as goals by Nicolas Pepe, Karl Etta Eyong and Arnaut Danjuma gave Villarreal their first pre-season win with a 3-2 victory at Emirates Stadium.
Pepe, who is Arsenal’s second-most expensive signing after his ill-fated £72 million move from Nice in 2019, siezed on slack defending to fire in the 16th-minute opener from close range after Pape Gueye shot against a post.
Karl Etta Eyong struck from similar proximity 17 minutes later after David Raya denied Gerard Moreno, but Christian Norgaard headed in Gabriel Martinelli’s corner before the break.
Lo huele. Lo busca. Lo tiene. Etta Eyong y su idilio con el gol. 👽 pic.twitter.com/qrWqQpxBP9
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 6, 2025
The hosts dominated the start of the second half and tested goalkeeper Luis Junior twice in quick succession through fierce shots from Ethan Nwaneri and Viktor Gyokeres on his first start for the club, only for Danjuma to charge on to Santi Comesana’s through ball on the break, enter the box and rifle past Raya in the 68th minute.
Martin Odegaard reduced the deficit to one with 14 minutes remaining, converting a penalty won by the quick feet of 15-year-old attacking midfielder Max Dowman, who has been one of the most impressive performers during Arsenal’s pre-season.
Gabriel then missed a chance to win the ensuing penalty shootout for Arsenal when Diego Conde tipped the defender’s attempt against the crossbar before the substitute goalkeeper denied new signing Noni Madueke in sudden death to seal a second victory of the evening for the Yellow Submarine.
Con mucho veneno.
Att: Danjuma 🐍 pic.twitter.com/c8cKM3W1dM— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 6, 2025
Arsenal vs Villarreal: Defeat for Gunners
Villarreal had never scored in three previous visits to Arsenal but Pepe gave Myles Lewis-Skelly a torrid time early on and Jakub Kiwior was culpable for the first goal by dallying at point-blank range as the winger pounced.
Norgaard – a £15m signing from Brentford in July – provided a measure of much-needed relief for the Premier League side after those early goals quietened the home crowd, opening his account with a free header in the 36th minute at the back post.
New defender Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel were left trailing by the speed of Villarreal’s counter-attack for their third and Sergi Cardona was a persistent catalyst for Villarreal with his speed, trickery and crossing ability from the left.
Odegaard, Declan Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko scored for Arsenal in the shootout but Mikel Merino shot well wide after waiting for Diego Conde to move.
Alberto Moleiro, Danjuma, Comesana and Pau Cabanes scored penalties for Villarreal, while former Arsenal loan signing Denis Suarez’s effort went comfortably wide and Jean Valou hit the crossbar.
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Arsenal team vs Villarreal
Arsenal handed a start to Gyokeres, who joined from Sporting in July for a fee that could rise to £64 million and did well to test Villarreal’s starting goalkeeper, Luiz Junior, from a tight angle after being played in by Mikel Merino.
Another new striker, Noni Madueke, was on the bench after missing Arsenal’s Asia tour while recovering from Chelsea’s campaign at the Club World Cup in June and July.
Gabriel and Jurrien Timber were out injured, while fellow defender Riccardo Calafiori was absent after missing the 1-0 defeat to Spurs in Hong Kong last Thursday with a knee injury.
Forward Leandro Trossard was not risked after limping off in that game.
Athletic Bilbao also visit Arsenal on Saturday (17:00 BST / 12:00 ET / 09:00 PT) and Arteta said he had been expecting high-level encounters with the LaLiga clubs.
“Villarreal are playing at the highest level and have a manager in Marcelino who likes to play a very specific type of system and formation that we will find in the Premier League this season,” predicted the Spaniard.
“Playing against Spanish opposition will require other things from us as well and I expect these to be really good games.
“When we arrange these pre-season matches, I always look at how the manager sets up his teams, how they coach their team, the kind of players they have, how they train different phases of play against different blocks.
“We have a very good mixture this pre-season. The knowledge and experience that we gain from these games all goes into our ‘database’ to help us throughout the season. It helps for the way we have to evolve our game models.
“Each game is going to demand something from you physically and [in terms of] the spaces you have to attack or protect, and different ways [opponents] can play in their build-up as well.
“So we have to nail that and improve that. Playing against Villarreal will help, so it’s a good game for us.”
Arsenal starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Arsenal substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Timber, Gabriel, Mosquera, Zinchenko, Lokonga, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Madueke, Rice, Dowman, Harriman-Annous
Villarreal team vs Arsenal
Willy Kambwala was out for Villarreal with a left hamstring injury the French-Congolese defender sustained during their friendly against Genoa on July 31.
Cape Verdean defender Logan Costa had surgery on Tuesday for a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, suffering the injury during their pre-season opener against FC Basel on July 19.
Right-back Santiago Mourino, who made his debut in the 1-1 draw at Leeds United on Saturday, kept his place.
Thomas Partey is expected to sign for Villarreal this week but the former Arsenal midfielder, who will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesdayafter being charged with five counts of rape and one of sexual assault, wasn’t on board in time for a return to the Emirates Stadium.
Villarreal were no strangers to the Emirates Stadium, although they had failed to score on their three previous visits.
Kolo Toure’s 41st-minute opener at home for Arsenal proved the only goal of the tie in the 2005/06 Champions League semi-finals, with Riquelme missing a late penalty for Villarreal in the return leg at the Estadio El Madrigal.
The teams met again in London a quarter-final tie poised at 1-1 after the first leg in 2009, only for Arsenal to cruise through with a 3-0 win.
Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie scored on that occasion, and Villarreal are unbeaten in the two encounters between the clubs since then.
Under former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, Villarreal won the first leg 2-1 at home against Arteta’s team in the 2020/21 Europa League semi-finals, Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol scoring before Pepe’s late reply.
The second leg finished 0-0, sending the Yellow Submarine through to a final they won 11-10 on penalties against Manchester United following a 1-1 draw in Gdansk.
Villarreal starting XI: Junior, Mourino, Marin, Foyth, Cardona, Gueye, Moleiro, Parejo, Pepe, Eyong, Moreno
Villarreal substitutes: Gomez, Conde, Navarro, Suarez, Danjuma, Altimira, Comesana, Buchanan, Pedraza, Valou, Cabanes
When does Arsenal’s 2025/26 Premier League season start?
The first round of Premier League matches in 2025/26 will be on the weekend of August 16 2025, including Arsenal’s trip to Manchester United on Sunday, August 17 at 16:30 BST.
The game against the 2024/25 Europa League finalists is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League, Ultra and Main Event.
The last round of matches this season will all start at the same time on May 24 2026. No rounds will take place within 60 hours of each other and there will be no fixture on December 24.
When does Villarreal’s 2025/26 LaLiga season start?
Having qualified for the Champions League by finishing fifth last season, Villarreal start their 2025/26 campaign at home to Oviedo on August 15 (20:30 BST / 15:30 ET / 12:30 PT).
Their visitors were promoted through the play-offs after coming third in the Segunda Division.
