Arsenal are hoping to play two behind-closed-door friendlies in the next two weeks, with West Ham United one of the likely opponents.

Goal report that Arsenal are hoping to play two friendlies in the two weeks before the Premier League returns with a trip to Manchester City on June 17th. They understand West Ham are one of the teams Arsenal could meet.

As we covered yesterday, Premier League clubs can play friendlies under a number of conditions. Venues must be no more than 90 minutes away for either team, players must travel in their own cars wearing their kit, and so on. Read that article for the full details.

A couple of Arsenal fans pointed out on social media that they don’t really want a friendly where Nicolas Pepe matches up against Aaron Cresswell. The West Ham left-back seemed to want to break the Arsenal winger’s leg in the 3-1 victory in December.

Other than that, the matchup makes sense. The two clubs are close together geographically, and they’ve already played twice this season. As a result, neither team can use the match for tactical hints on how to beat the other later in the campaign.

From a selfish point of view, Arsenal beat West Ham home and away this season. They’re up there with Newcastle on the shortlist of teams likely to give Mikel Arteta’s side a confidence boost. Most importantly, though, it’s just about building fitness.