Saturday 16 July 2016 13:49, UK
Arsene Wenger is confident Arsenal's pre-season schedule will sharpen his squad for a tough start in the Premier League.
Wenger stands to be without some of his big-name international players when Liverpool visit the Emirates on the opening weekend, live on Sky Sports.
That game is followed by a trip to champions Leicester the following Saturday, when the likes of Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil will be just a fortnight into their pre-season training programmes.
But Wenger believes the bulk of his squad will be in good shape for the August 14 kick-off thanks to their own professionalism and a run of five friendlies in France, the United States and Scandinavia.
"Let's not forget that we play Liverpool and Leicester in the first two games so we have to be ready physically and fitness-wise," he told the club website. "What has changed compared to 10 or 15 years ago is that the players come back basically fit today.
"There's no overweight players anymore, there's no players anymore who have not prepared or done their homework and you can start straight away with normal training. Before you had to dedicate two or three weeks first to get everybody to the stage where they can practice normally.
"[We want the players] to be as sharp as possible. Look at the schedule we have, it is a very difficult schedule and we must focus on the players who are here because they are certainly the players who will start the season.
Premier League clubs are jetting across the world on pre-season tours
"We have a nice variety. I wanted a game before we travelled to the States, and the States will be interesting as well. After that we travel to Scandinavia."
Arsenal's first pre-season game is away at Lens on July 22, and their trip to the States takes in friendlies against and MLS All-Stars team and Chivas de Guadalajara.
The Gunners then play Norway's Viking in Stavanger and Manchester City in Sweden.
