Lens 1-1 Arsenal RESULT: Arsene Wenger's secure draw in first pre-season clash as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hits equaliser

That's it then for our live coverage of Arsenal's 1-1 pre-season draw with Lens. 

If you want to read the full match report, then click here but for now, it's goodbye. 

DOMINIC KING IN LENS: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain enjoyed the perfect return to action as he arrived in the nick of time to mark his first appearance in five months with a sublime goal.

It has been a long road back for the England international, who was robbed of a place at Euro 2016 when he suffered a setback in May, but he went some way to banishing his frustrations with a 45-minute cameo in a 1-1 draw with Lens that will have thrilled Arsene Wenger.

Oxlade-Chamberlain had not kicked a ball in public since he collided with Barcelona's Javier Mascherano during a Champions League last-16 game in February but there was no sign of rustiness as he produced a glorious chip to cancel out Mathias Autret's first half strike. 

READ THE FULL MATCH REPORT HERE

So that's it then from northern France, where Arsenal's first game of this year's pre-season ends in a 1-1 draw. 

You'd have to say that's probably a fair result, the 90 minutes providing Arsene Wenger's side with a more than decent workout. 

Full match report to follow shortly... 

FULL-TIME: LENS 1-1 ARSENAL

89mins: A minute plus added time to go... 

88mins: Promising attack from Arsenal, well it looked like it initially. 

Gedion Zelalem plays in Kieran Gibbs, he squares to Joel Campbell but the whistle has already gone with the full-back offside. 

The Gunners finishing well here... 

87mins: Handful of minutes left as Lens make their final few changes. 

85mins: Arsenal have levelled then... can they find a winner in the five minutes left? 

82mins: There hasn't been much to cheer for Arsenal so far in this game but that goal was worth the wait. 

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been impressive in the second-half, and that lovely dinked finish just goes to show his confidence at the moment. 

Gnabry is the creator, holding off the Lens defence and pushing the ball wide to Oxlade-Chamberlain. 

With the goalkeeper advancing, the former Southampton man lofts a lovely chip over the keeper and in. 

1-1. 

82mins: GOAL FOR ARSENAL - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 

80mins: Into the final 10. 

Can Arsenal salvage a late goal to get something from this game? 

79mins: Gibbs puts a cross in from the left. 

It finds Joel Campbell who puts in a curling effort which the goalkeeper does well to hold. 

77mins: Arsenal make their final two changes. 

Gedion Zelalem is on for Alex Iwobi, while Chris Willock replaces Walcott. 

75mins: Close! 

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has looked bright, finds space on the edge of the box. 

He's looking to shoot but instead plays in Walcott who puts a side-foot effort just past the far post with the goalkeeper rooted to the spot. 

Lens fans cheering on their team to victory here... 

71mins: Lens spreading the ball from side to side still, stretching the Arsenal defence when they can. 

Into the final 20 minutes now.

With Lens further along in their pre-season schedule, they look stronger than the Gunners in terms of fitness right now. 

69mins: Arsenal have it in the net... but Walcott is offside! 

Joel Campbell jinks inside and out on the edge of the box, before sliding a superb ball through. 

Walcott is on the end of it and dinks the ball over the keeper and in but he's offside and the goal is ruled out. 

67mins: Not much urgency from Arsenal to try and get back into things here. 

Arsene Wenger patrolling the touchline, not looking particularly happy either. 

Just over 20 minutes to go... 

65mins: Lens are continuing to pass it nicely this evening. 

Bostock finds himself in space on the edge of the box and it opens up for a shot on goal. 

The former Palace man can't resist, but his effort is high and wide and pretty ugly too. 

63mins: Frustrating! 

Oxlade-Chamberlain breaks away for Arsenal, passes to Walcott who looks to find Gnabry. 

It's the wrong decision from the England man though and his pass is cut out. 

He should really have taken the ball on for a shot then. 

Lens still lead 1-0...

61mins: Lens earn a corner, Bostock whipping it in from the right. 

Gnabry heads clear but a sublime volley comes in from the edge of the box which Macey does very well to tip over. 

Excellent save that, with the effort on goal coming from Benjamin Bourigeaud.

59mins: Better from Arsenal. 

The ball finds its way to Chambers, who is now playing at full-back, down the right. 

He puts a decent cross into the six-yard box but Walcott can't get his foot to it and the chance is gone. 

58mins: Arsenal struggling in attack too at the start of the second-half. 

Walcott, who is still on the field, tries another run down the right but the door is firmly shut on him by the giant Lens defender Abdoul Ba. 

55mins: As is usual with pre-season friendlies, a raft of changes means it's a quiet start to the second-half. 

No real chances to note so far, but Oxlade-Chamberlain is looking bright in the 10 minutes we've had so far. 

51mins: Early chance for Arsenal, as Oxlade-Chamberlain puts Joel Campbell through on goal. 

He's about to have a shot when he realises the flag is up. 

51mins: Here are the details of the Arsenal changes...

Macey comes on for Martinez

Gibbs comes on for Debuchy

Bielik comes on for Monreal

Campbell comes on for Elneny

Oxlade-Chamberlain comes on for Akpom

Gnabry comes on for Reine-Adelaide

49mins: Six changes in total then for Arsenal for the second-half. 

Gibbs is at left-back for Monreal with Chambers switching to right back in place of Debuchy. 

47mins: Serge Gnabry, Joel Campbell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs all on for the second-half too. 

Theo Walcott still on though despite the wholesale changes. 

46mins: The second-half begins. 

Matt Macey one of the Arsenal changes, he's in goal for the second-half. 

HALF-TIME: So Arsenal are behind at the break and you'd have to say the home side probably just about to deserve to lead. 

We're expecting a host of Arsenal changes at the break. 

We'll keep you up to date with those as they happen...

HALF-TIME: LENS 1-0 ARSENAL

45mins: Debuchy the first player in the book this evening for a sliding tackle. 

It's not his first tasty challenge of the evening either. 

43mins: Lens keeping the ball well as we approach the break. 

Looks like they'll go into the half-time period with the home side ahead. 

41mins: So Arsenal behind then and they've had a couple of half chances since the goal. 

First Theo Walcott put a corner in which was cleared, before the winger fired a wild shot over. 

Four minutes till half-time. 

39mins: So we've got our first goal here then and it's Lens who lead.

You'd have to say they're not undeserving of a 1-0 lead too. 

The goal came out of nothing really but it's Calum Chambers who will have to have a look at himself. 

A long ball forward sees Chambers head it down but straight to Zoubir.

He advances on goal and puts it across to Autret who finishes calmly. 

1-0 to the home side. 

38mins: GOAL LENS - Mathias Autret 

35mins: Ten minutes to the break then and I can't imagine there'll be much added time. 

Both sides have had their chances but it's still 0-0. 

Can Arsenal strike for an opener before the raft of half-time changes we're expecting?

31mins: Theo Walcott is often criticised for his lack of end product but he's just put in two decent balls for his side. 

First he took a corner from the right and then whipped another cross back in when the set-piece was cleared. 

Someone should have really been attacking the second of those. 

29mins: Calum Chambers is at the heart of the Arsenal defence tonight but he looks a bit frustrated there aren't many midfield options available to him when he picks up the ball. 

Arsenal then break, with Debuchy and Walcott combining before the latter's cross is blocked. 

From the resulting corner, Elneny fires a wild effort from the edge of the box way over the bar. 

27mins: Reine-Adelaide has had Arsenal's best chance so far, he'll probably be a bit disappointed he didn't hit the target with his latest effort. 

Arsenal slowly getting to grips with things in midfield now as Mertesacker gets a block in on a Lens attack to snuff out any danger. 

Still 0-0. 

22mins: Arsenal, not unsurprisingly given it's their first game, are looking a little disjointed in attack so far, Walcott trying to find Akpom but with no luck. 

Minutes later, Jeff Reine-Adelaide has Arsenal's best chance of the game so far. 

He cuts in from the left, selling the defender a dummy and unleashing a right foot shot just past the far post. 

Close. 

19mins: Not much to write home about from an Arsenal perspective so far. 

Iwobi and Akpom have looked lively up front, both making some nice runs in behind the Lens defence. 

Worryingly, with Coquelin and Elneny in the centre of the park, Arsenal aren't having too much control in midfield. 

16 mins: This might be Arsenal's first game of pre-season but they're allowing Lens to have far too much room in the centre of midfield, particularly around their own box. 

Arsene Wenger won't be happy about that at all. 

Still 0-0, no more clear-cut chances for either side to mention. 

13mins: Apart from that chance for Akpom it's been slim pickings for Arsenal so far. 

Lens have had much more of the ball and the better chances too. 

Arsenal's frustrations so far summed up by Mertesacker lumping a ball forward which Iwobi gets nowhere near. 

9mins: Lens might be a Ligue 2 side but they've settled well here and are looking dangerous when they attack. 

The home side are just one week away from the start of their league season which would explain their greater sharpness so far. 

Mathias Autret has had two quick chances, firing wide on both occasions. 

He looks dangerous and has Mertesacker on toast at the moment. 

DOMINIC KING IN LENS: A reminder of the times we live in before kick-off with the Lens supporters blasting out a powerful rendition of Les Marseillas and the crowd joining in a period of applause for those who were killed in Nice last Thursday.

4mins: Lens should be ahead. 

Just a minute after Akpom fired at the keeper, Arsenal are let off. 

The French side are given too much space in the box, Abdellah Zoubir firing over the bar when he should have done better. 

3mins: Lens have started quite well here but it's Arsenal with the first chance. 

The Gunners break, with Chuba Akpom firing a shot straight at the keeper. 

2mins: A superb atmosphere at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis this evening, the home supporters really relishing the chance to take on a Premier League side. 

A quiet start on the field though, Lens having plenty of the ball with Mertesacker moving to bring one French attack to an end. 

1min: We're underway in Lens as the home side get us started. 

John Bostock is probably a familiar face in the Lens side tonight. 

He's a former Crystal Palace and Tottenham man who burst on to the scene as a 16-year-old but saw it all go wrong for him when he moved to Spurs. 

We'll see if he can make an impact tonight...

The Arsenal subs, including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, are the first ones to appear out of the tunnel. 

And the referee and the two teams soon follow with Per Mertesacker leading out Arsenal. 

Teams set to be in the tunnel any minute now... 

Lovely sunny evening in northern France, not too hot and should be perfect for some free-flowing football. 

Kick-off approaching then at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. 

A decent atmosphere in Lens too with plenty of home fans in to support their side. 

All the action coming right up... 

Arsene Wenger will be keen to take a look at some of his younger players and one to watch could well be Alex Iwobi. 

He starts up front on his own this evening and will no doubt be looking to build on his performances from last term. 

Could this be the season he makes an even bigger breakthrough at the Emirates? 

Arsene Wenger is a popular man out in France. 

Here he is meeting the Lens fans this evening...

Here's a reminder of the Arsenal squad this evening then. 

A strong starting XI with the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamerlain and Joel Campbell all on the bench too.

Arsenal: Martinez, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Monreal, Elneny, Coquelin, Walcott, Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide, Akpom

Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Bielik, Zelalem, Campbell, Oxlade-Chamerlain, Willock, Gnabry

Arsenal starlet Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who joined the Gunners after coming through the youth system at Lens, also starts tonight's game. 

He'll play from the left of an attacking three - initially at least - joining Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi in supporting lone striker Chuba Akpom. 

It's a very strong Arsenal squad for tonight's game then, with a number of first team members involved from the off. 

Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers and Nacho Monreal all start in defence. 

Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin are the holding midfield pair while Theo Walcott is the most experienced member of the attack. 

Here's the Arsenal team to face Lens this evening...

Here's the Lens squad for this evening's game then. 

Still awaiting the Arsenal side picked by Arsene Wenger... 

Here's Arsenal arriving for tonight's game, with club legend Robert Pires there too! 

We're awaiting official team news from Arsenal but some of their star men most definitely won't be involved this evening. 

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud are all still on holiday following their exertions in the Copa America and Euro 2016. 

Arsene Wenger will be hoping Sanchez's ankle injury which he suffered in the Copa final isn't too serious. 

New signing Rob Holding also won't play in Lens but will be ready for the club's further pre-season fixtures. 

In case you missed it earlier today, Arsenal have confirmed the signing of England Under-21 defender Rob Holding from League One side Bolton, for a reported fee of £2.5million.

The 20-year-old came through the ranks at Bolton before breaking into the first team 12 months ago and went on to immediately establish himself in the side.

Wanderers finished bottom of the Championship as they dropped down to the third tier but that did not stop Holding picking up the club's player of the season award.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

This is Arsenal's first pre-season game then, tonight's encounter the first of a number of warm-up games. 

Here's their itinerary for the next few weeks:

Arsenal vs MLS All-Stars, Thursday 28 April, 01:00 BST, Dallas

Arsenal vs Chivas, Sunday 31 July, 17:00 BST, San Jose

Arsenal vs Viking VK, Friday 5 August, 19:30 BST, Stavanger, Norway

Arsenal vs Manchester City, Sunday 7 August, 18:00 BST, Stockholm

Kick-off in France is just under an hour away then, tonight's game being held in Lens which of course hosted England's Euro 2016 clash with Wales earlier this summer. 

We'll have team news coming up shortly, but for now here's the scene in northern France. 

Good evening and welcome along to Sportsmail's live coverage of Arsenal's pre-season clash with Lens at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. 

It's the start of a new season for Arsene Wenger's side and tonight brings their first game ahead of a fresh Premier League term. 

Stay with us for all the action as it happens right here...