Preview: Arsenal vs. Borussia Dortmund - prediction, team news, lineups

Arsenal can win a trophy before the 2026-27 season has even kicked off - albeit a friendly, inconsequential trophy - as the Gunners host Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Mikel Arteta's men have triumphed in each of the last four iterations of the competition, while BVB could become just the second Bundesliga team to take home the honour, after Hamburger SV in 2008.

Match preview

Formerly Arsenal's most notable piece of silverware during the 'banter years' of 2007, 2009 and 2010, the Emirates Cup will be staged for the 15th time this weekend, when the Gunners could reach double figures in terms of tournament triumphs.

Mikel Arteta's men strode to a 3-0 success over Athletic Bilbao in the 2025 edition for the club's ninth Emirates Cup victory, prior to which they eased past Lyon 2-0 in 2024, edged out Monaco on penalties in 2023, and hit Sevilla for six without reply in 2022.

Arteta's 100% record in Emirates Cup matches is a stark contrast to his predecessor Unai Emery - whose first and only competition match ended in defeat to Lyon in 2019 - but the Spaniard and his squad have some errors to rectify this weekend.

Individual mistakes proved fatal in Arsenal's surprise 3-1 loss to Real Betis in Wednesday's friendly, ending their 100% summer record following convincing three-goal victories over MK Dons - behind closed doors - and Girona.

Sunday's showdown represents the Gunners' penultimate chance to regain some much-needed momentum, as after Como's visit to the Emirates Stadium next week, Manchester City await in the Community Shield on August 16.

Also gearing up for their own shot at summer silverware - preparing to battle Bayern Munich in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup later this month - Borussia Dortmund's friendly period has been the dictionary definition of a mixed bag.

Four matches have brought two wins and two losses for Niko Kovac's men, who kicked off their 2026-27 preparations with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, before going down 2-1 to Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Dortmund then embarked on a brief sojourn of Japan and ended up on both ends of 1-0 scorelines, firstly being condemned to a 1-0 defeat to Cerezo Osaka and quickly atoning with an identical success over FC Tokyo, thanks to a winner from one-time Wolverhampton Wanderers man Fabio Silva.

Like their hosts, BVB are also in exhibition action for the penultimate time this weekend; Kovac's men - who wound up in an all-too familiar second place in the 2025-26 Bundesliga table - round off their prep against Roma on August 15.

Frequent foes in the Champions League during the early 2010s, Arsenal and Dortmund have met eight times competitively down the years, and it was the Gunners who came up trumps in the most recent battle; Yaya Sanogo and Alexis Sanchez netted in a 2-0 win in late 2014.

Arsenal friendly form:

Borussia Dortmund friendly form:

Team News

Arsenal's reverse to Real Betis saw the returns of Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes following Brazil's World Cup run, but the duo will not be joined at the Emirates by Vinicius Junior, who has snubbed interest from the Gunners to pen a new Real Madrid contract.

The two Gabriels were brought on then brought off in the second half, but their withdrawals were pre-planned, unlike young midfielder Louie Copley who is now feared to be facing a spell out with a serious injury sustained in midweek.

It may be a case of one in, one out in the Arsenal engine room, as captain Martin Odegaard has returned to training following his holiday and is in line to make his first appearance of pre-season, albeit as a substitute.

Arteta and Kovac can empathise with one another over pre-season midfield injuries, as Dortmund lost Carney Chukwuemeka inside just 23 minutes against FC Tokyo due to a flare-up of a knee issue.

Kovac provided a reassuring update at full time, but Chukwuemeka's status for the weekend remains uncertain, while long-term knee absentees Emre Can and Nico Schlotterbeck are both missing.

Should Chukwuemeka be rendered unavailable, the door will swing open for 18-year-old Greek wonderkid Konstantinos Karetsas - formerly linked with Arsenal and signed from Genk earlier this week - to make his debut.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Meslier; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie; Vieira, Lewis-Skelly, Havertz; Dowman, Gyokeres, Martinelli

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Drewes; Reggiani, Anton, Ritter; Svensson, Bellingham, Nmecha, Beier; Silva, Karetsas; Guirassy

We say: Arsenal 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

Arsenal tend to turn up the heat when the Emirates Cup is at stake, and no concerns should be lingering from Betis, where the Gunners' defeat was almost solely down to individual mistakes.

Cut out those errors at source, and the Premier League champions should keep a firm hold on their home honour.