Rangers may have made changes in the double figures at half time, but defeat to lowly Tranmere has not exactly inspired confidence within the ranks, as Gerrard’s side could not recover from Kieron Morris’s 39th-minute opener at Prenton Park.
The result came five days after the Scottish champions had scraped past Partick Thistle by the same scoreline, and while it is important not to read too much into pre-season results, Gerrard will be demanding more after labelling his side’s attempts to stop Morris’s goal “embarrassing”.
The former Liverpool lynchpin has also affirmed that players are fighting for their right to wear the shirt in these pre-season fixtures, so the onus is certainly on the Ibrox outfit to follow in the footsteps of Hibs and get one over their London counterparts.
However, only a mere 2,000 fans will be present at the stadium to watch the two British powerhouses take to the field – a decision which has been met with widespread criticism – although Rangers certainly fared rather well behind closed doors in the 2020-21 season.
Expectations are high among Arsenal fans for the new season, as Arteta will not have any European football to contend with as he bids to pull together a team capable of challenging for the top four once again.
However, their preparations for the new season could hardly have kicked off in a worse way, as Hibs duo Daniel MacKay and Martin Boyle both found the
back of the net against a makeshift Gunners team before Emile Smith Rowe added nothing more than a consolation effort in the 82nd minute.
Arsenal fans ought not to read too much into a pre-season defeat – especially with Arteta handing several up-and-coming starlets the chance to impress –
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but some of the same old problems were evident, as Arsenal were undone by a set piece and were lacking a clinical edge throughout the 90 minutes.
The warm-up fixtures do not get any easier for Arsenal either, as Arteta’s side prepare to jet off to the USA to take on Inter Milan and either Everton or Millonarios in the Florida Cup, while Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur both lie in wait ahead of the Mind Series.
Rangers and Arsenal go back a long way – with the Scottish side holding shares in the North London club for over 100 years before they were sold by Craig Whyte – and two goals from a teenage Jack Wilshere helped the Gunners win this fixture 3-0 during the 2009 Emirates Cup
