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Arsenal have been putting the final touches to their Emirates Cup preparation
The Gunners will host the annual pre-season tournament, starting on Saturday
Arsene Wenger oversaw the session as his side race for full match fitness
The community shield final against rivals Chelsea is also fast approaching

Published: 09:15 EDT, 28 July 2017 | Updated: 09:20 EDT, 28 July 2017

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Arsenal have been putting in the hard graft ahead of a busy week involving both the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield.

The Gunners are now ramping up their preparations in order to ready and match fit ahead of the return of the Premier League season.

Boss Arsene Wenger oversaw Friday morning's training session as his men ready themselves to come up against Portuguese side Benfica on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger watched on as his Arsenal team went through their paces on Friday morning

Goalkeepers Petr Cech and David Ospina chose an alternative mode of transport to the pitch

It was all smiles for Danny Welbeck who approached the session wearing a large grin

Welbeck then paired up with Per Mertesacker for the stretching and warm-up drills

England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain receives the ball under pressure

Striker Olivier Giroud nicks the ball off the foot of Spanish defender Hector Bellerin

Alex Iwobi powers away with the ball under pressure from midfielder Mohamed Elneny

Granit Xhaka (L) chats with new boy Sead Kolasinac during a break in the play

Wenger watched on as his star-studded side went through a series of warm-ups before engaging in short-sided, possession based matches.

New boy Alexandre Lacazette was among the action as the Gunners put in the grind at their London Colney base.

Arsenal and Benfica will be joined in the Emirates this year by Sevilla and Red Bull Leipzig of the Bundesliga.

The fixtures will play out one after the other on the famous Emirates turf, before a winner is crowned.

One man who has not been preparing with his Arsenal team-mates is Alexis Sanchez.

Record signing Alexandre Lacazette looks on with France compatriot Francis Coquelin

Young defender Calum Chambers barks instructions to his team-mate during a defence drill

Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez uploaded a photograph alongside his dog with the caption: 'Sick'

The Gunners hierarchy were widely expecting the wantaway Chilean to report to training this week, though Sanchez has pulled out due to illness.

The 28-year-old uploaded an image to his official Instagram profile, showing himself along with his pet dog captioned: 'Enfermo / sick.'

Manchester City remain hopeful of luring the mercurial forward away from North London this summer, though Arsenal are standing firm on their refusal to sell.

While the Gunners are desperate to sell their star man to a Premier League rival, Bayern Munich and PSG have also enquired about the services of the former Barcelona superstar.