Arsenal will be continuing their pre-season tour tomorrow behind closed doors, as they prepare for the Premier League curtain raiser next week.
In recent times, behind-closed-doors fixtures have become increasingly common, perhaps a consequence of a post-Covid world.
The Gunners beat League One outfit Ipswich 5-1 at London Colney at the beginning of their pre-season, and will be seeking to replicate that success tomorrow.
However, tomorrow’s opposition will be a far sterner test, with the opponent being Premier League side Brentford.
Most fans will have bitter memories when The Bees are mentioned, with the then newly promoted club beating the Gunners in last season’s Premier League opener.
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That said, the squad heading into both tomorrow’s friendly and the season opener this season looks in a far healthier state than 12 months ago.
Five signings - Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko - leaves those at Arsenal much more confident that they have been going into previous seasons.
Optimism is rife around the club at the moment, particularly after the 4-0 romping of Chelsea over the weekend.
Yet Arteta wants to ensure excitement is managed:
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"It was a friendly match. As you could see there are a lot of positives to take from the game.
"The way we played, the intensity we showed, the way we were trying to show who we are as a team.
"But at the same time, it’s just a test match. Don’t get carried away"
There are two more friendly matches to go, Brentford behind closed doors and then Sevilla on the weekend.
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Now’s the time that the final tunings to the well-oiled Gunners machine must be made, as Arteta’s men step into another season of war in 10 days against Crystal Palace.
Jake Lennard