Arsenal saw their preseason tour of Asia end in a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park on Thursday.
The Gunners followed up a 1-0 win over AC Milan with a 3-2 defeat of Newcastle United during their short stay in Singapore, but they looked a little more laboured in Kowloon as they failed to break down a diligent Spurs defence.
Pape Sarr’s sensational long-range goal proved the difference on a day when Viktor Gyokeres made his first appearance for Arsenal as a second-half substitute. The strike was one of just two shots on target throughout the contest.
1 – Pape Sarr’s opener against Arsenal was scored from a distance of 45.1 yards, and the only shot on target from either side in the first half. Speculative. pic.twitter.com/F4wSrI57Pd
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 31, 2025
Thomas Frank’s side had the better of the chances during the first half, twice hitting the post from corners before Wilson Odobert also clipped the woodwork with a precise shot from just inside the box.
The breakthrough came when Myles Lewis-Skelly lost possession near the halfway line and Sarr lobbed the retreating David Raya in superb fashion. Arsenal felt a free-kick should have been given in the build-up, but the officials were unmoved.
Mikel Arteta looked fairly animated on the touchline as he cajoled his players in the second half, but they made few inroads against a Spurs defence that maintained its discipline. Gyokeres and fellow new arrival Cristhian Mosquera got off the bench for the final quarter of an hour, but the striker was barely involved.
Arsenal will now return to north London for two more preseason games against Villarreal and Athletic Club before their Premier League campaign begins at Old Trafford on August 17. Spurs head to South Korea, where they will play Newcastle United in Seoul, before Frank and his players travel to Germany for a friendly against Bayern Munich.
JUMP TO: Full commentary and highlights | Match stats | Team news and lineups
Arsenal vs. Tottenham score
| Fulltime | Goal scorers | |
| Arsenal | 0 | |
| Tottenham | 1 | Sarr 45′ |
Venue: Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong
Starting lineups:
Arsenal (4-3-3, right to left): Raya (GK) — White, Saliba, Kiwior (Mosquera), Lewis-Skelly (Zinchenko) — Odegaard, Norgaard (Zubimendi), Rice (Merino) — Saka (Dowman), Havertz (Gyokeres), Martinelli (Trossard; Nelson)
Tottenham (4-3-3, right to left): Vicario (GK) — Porro, Romero (Danso), Van de Ven (Davies), Spence — Bergvall (Bissouma), Bentancur (Grey), Sarr (Maddison) — Kudus (Johnson), Richarlison (Tel), Odobert (Son)
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Arsenal vs. Tottenham stats
| Arsenal | Stat | Tottenham |
| 16 | Shots | 6 |
| 1 | Shots on target | 1 |
| 56% | Possession | 44% |
| 406 | Passes | 344 |
| 13 | Corners | 4 |
| 10 | Fouls | 10 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 3 | Offsides | 1 |
Arsenal vs. Tottenham live updates, highlights, and commentary
Fulltime: Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham
That’s that in Kowloon! Spurs claim a 1-0 win thanks to Pape Sarr’s spectacular first-half goal. Arsenal huffed and puffed but didn’t really offer much going forward. Spurs and Thomas Frank claim the preseason bragging rights.
90+2 mins: Max Dowman gets the crowd going with a good run into the box, but Spence defends well, as he has done all game. Mikel Merino and Brennan Johnson are then booked for getting a bit tetchy before the corner is taken.
90 mins: There will be a minimum of six added minutes.
88 mins: Spurs with a bit of possession in the final third now. The last 30 minutes has been a bit of a non-event, aside from seeing Gyokeres run out in an Arsenal shirt for the first time.
84 mins: Leandro Trossard managed less than 20 minutes this half. He looks to have a groin problem. Reiss Nelson is on in his stead.
78 mins: Here we go, then: Viktor Gyokeres is ON! He joins fellow new signing Cristhian Mosquera in entering the fray. An equaliser would be quite the way to mark his first appearance.
74 mins: Son Heung-min gets a hero’s reception as he prepares to come on for Spurs. Saka, meanwhile, looks to have taken a heavy blow to the leg and is receiving treatment during this drinks break.
65 mins: Good chance for Spurs! Djed Spence gets past Odegaard and stands up a cross to the far post, where Micky van de Ven rises highest but can only put his header wide. That should’ve been 2-0.
62 mins: Here comes the first raft of changes for Spurs. It’s Mathys Tel, Brennan Johnson and Kevin Danso on for Richarlison, Kudus and Romero.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 31, 2025
57 mins: Bit untidy from Spurs as they fail to clear their own box — Cristian Romero wanted a foul again Havertz, which wasn’t given — and Odegaard’s shot is blocked behind. The corner is cleared but Arsenal work it well through Lewis-Skelly and Havertz, but Martinelli can’t find the target with an outside-of-the-boot shot.
52 mins: Spurs have kept Arsenal comfortably at arm’s length today. Thomas Frank will be pretty encouraged by this first hour or so.
Kickoff: Second half
We’re back underway. Strangely, no changes to either side, so we expect a host of subs will be made in 10-15 minutes.
Halftime
Sarr’s incredible goal is the difference at the break.
45 mins: GOAL! WHAT A STRIKE FROM PAPE SARR! Raya passes to Myles Lewis-Skelly, who turns into trouble near the centre-circle and loses possession. Sarr looks up and sends a pinpoint lob over the retreating Raya from 40 yards out! Brilliant from the Spurs man, less so from Arsenal.
Watch Pape Sarr’s spectacular goal:
Outrageous from Pape Sarr 😮💨
Don’t miss the action – watch the second half live on SPURSPLAY 📺
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 31, 2025
41 mins: Saka wins another free-kick in a promising position. Declan Rice’s deliveries haven’t been on point until now, but this is a good opportunity to the right of the penalty area.
He hits the first man again.
36 mins: And there’s the revenge: play restarts from the drinks break, and Bentancur steps across Saka to send him sprawling. That will be a yellow card, too.
32 mins: Bukayo Saka takes on Rodrigo Bentancur in the Spurs box, but his touch is a little heavy and he loses out. He then catches the Spurs midfielder with a little kick as they collide, leaving him needing a spot of treatment. That was a little bit naughty.
27 mins: Erm… how has Richarlison missed?! Raya gets nowhere near the corner, and it looks like the Spurs striker has a simple task of turning the ball in from practically on the goal line, but he misses his header, it comes back off the post, off his hand, and over the bar. Remarkable.
28 mins: Off the post again! Wilson Odobert threads a shot through the legs of Ben White, and it takes a slight deflection before clipping the woodwork anf going behind for a corner.
20 mins: Arsenal are still enjoying more of the ball, but there haven’t been any chances of note. Declan Rice made some good progress into the box just now, but he was crowded out of it. There’s a decent tempo to the game, though.
13 mins: Possibly some concern for David Raya here, who is stretching out his left arm/shoulder quite a lot. Could be he just tweaked something.
10 mins: So nearly a Spurs goal! Pedro Porros corner curls all the way towards the far corner and comes back off the post, and Richarlison can’t turn in the rebound.
8 mins: Arsenal have started well here. This time, Martinelli and Kai Havertz link up well, but the latter mishits his shot when off-balance. The offside flag was up anyway.
1 min: Chance for Arsenal with less than a minute on the clock! The ball breaks to Odegaard, whose shot is deflected behind for a corner. Spurs clear the set-piece.
Kickoff: First half
Here we go!
10 mins before kickoff: We’re approaching the start of this one. It’s still around 29 degrees Celsius here (85 F), so expect plenty of stoppages in play.
30 mins before kickoff: That is one of the more immaculate entrances/mixed zones I’ve seen. Good news for Arsenal fans that Riccardo Calafiori was able to walk in with the squad despite sitting out today’s game with an injury concern.
All checked in ☑️ pic.twitter.com/SClAdgGLsO
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 31, 2025
1 hour before kickoff: Mikel Arteta makes five changes from the team that started the win over Newcastle. Martin Odegaard, Christian Norgaard, Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli and Jakub Kiwior all come in, with Gyokeres joining fellow new signing Cristhian Mosquera on the bench.
Spurs have a strong side lining up for this one, including new signing Mohammed Kudus.
1 hour 40 mins before kickoff: Spurs will have some funky designs on their jerseys today.
The players will wear special edition shirts with bespoke numbers designed by a local artist for today’s game against Arsenal in Hong Kong.
Find out more ⤵️
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 31, 2025
2 hours before kickoff: A preseason north London derby. What a way to whet the appetite for the start of the 2025/26 Premier League — and what a moment to (potentially) make your first appearance for your new club.
Finding his range 🎯
A first look at Viktor training with The Arsenal 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 31, 2025
Arsenal vs. Tottenham kick off time
The match kicks off in Kowloon, Hong Kong at 7:30 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA/Canada | Thur, July 31 | 7:30 a.m. ET |
| USA/Canada | Thur, July 31 | 4:30 a.m. PT |
| UK | Thur, July 31 | 12:30 p.m. BST |
| Australia | Thur, July 31 | 9:30 p.m. AEDT |
| India | Thur, July 31 | 5:00 p.m. IST |
Arsenal vs. Tottenham lineups, team news
Viktor Gyokeres starts this game on the bench, which is no great surprise given he has only just finalised his move from Sporting CP.
In total, Arteta makes five changes from the starting lineup for the Newcastle game. Martin Odegaard, Christian Norgaard, Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli and Jakub Kiwior all come in.
Riccardo Calafiori suffered an injury against the Magpies and sits this one out alongside Kepa Arrizabalaga, Gabriel and Jurrien Timber.
Arsenal lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Raya (GK) — White, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly — Odegaard, Norgaard, Rice — Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Arsenal subs: Setford, Rojas-Fedorushchenko, Nichols, Salmon, Mosquera, Zinchenko, Zubimendi, Lokonga, Copley, Merino, Dowman, Nwaneri, Kabia, Nelson, Trossard, Harriman-Annous, Gyokeres
Injured: Calafiori, Jesus, Gabriel
All of Bryan Gil, Manor Solomon, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie and new signing Kota Takai were not fit enough to travel with the Tottenham squad.
Headline new arrival Mohammed Kudus is involved from the start, but long-serving captain Son Heung-min, heavily linked with a move to LAFC, is on the bench.
Youth team graduates Mikey Moore, Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine were omitted from the travelling party as Spurs seek to find loan destinations for the upcoming season.
Tottenham lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Vicario (GK) — Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence — Maddison, Bentancur, Sarr — Kudus, Solanke, Son
Tottenham subs: Kinsky, Austin, Danso, Son, Bissouma, Maddison, Tel, Gray, Yang, Johnson, Davies, Donley, Abbott, Vuskovic
Injured: Gill, Solomon, Kulusevski, Dragusin, Udogie, Takai
Arsenal vs. Tottenham live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
| Region | Date | Kickoff Time | TV | Streaming |
| USA | Thu, July 31 | 7:30 a.m. ET/ 4:30 a.m. PT | CBS | Paramount+ |
| Canada | Thu, July 31 | 7:30 a.m. ET/ 4:30 a.m. PT | — | — |
| UK | Thu, July 31 | 12:30 p.m. BST | — | Arsenal.com, SpursPlay |
| Australia | Thu, July 31 | 9:30 p.m. AEST | — | Paramount+ |
| India | Thu, July 31 | 6:00 p.m. IST | — | FanCode, tabii |
