Arsenal are set to face Brentford in a midweek friendly behind closed doors at London Colney, ahead of their weekend match at the Emirates Stadium.

Reports last week suggested Arsenal could be set to add one further friendly to their pre-season schedule, playing a behind-closed-doors match between their return from tour and the Emirates Cup this weekend.

Arsenal Fixture News now report that an Arsenal first-team side will take on Brentford in that extra friendly on Wednesday, with the game reportedly set to take place at London Colney.

Arsenal have occasionally played behind-closed-doors friendlies at the Emirates Stadium in recent years, but they’re avoiding the Emirates on this occasion due to the ongoing works at the ground.

The club are installing new screens in the stadium, hoping to have those done in time for the new campaign.

In the meantime, Arsenal will look to keep building their fitness for the new campaign with a match at their training ground against Premier League opposition.

It’s not uncommon for Arsenal to fit in extra pre-season games between the publicly available fixtures.

The Gunners played both Millwall and Watford in behind-closed-doors games last summer, and they’ve already played Ipswich Town this time around.

Mikel Arteta has been able to name close to a first-choice side on tour in the U.S., but that has meant certain players have ended up sitting out a lot.

The likes of Folarin Balogun, Arthur Okonkwo, Reiss Nelson, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles went on tour, but they haven’t spent a huge amount of time on the pitch.

That’s not to mention players like Fabio Vieira, closing in on a return from injury and in need of some minutes.

The extra game should give all of them a chance to play before the first-choice team come back in for the Emirates Cup.