Arsene Wenger hopes Arsenal's clash with Chelsea on Saturday will help gauge their summer progress and says the pre-season fixture is "not really a friendly".
The two sides meet at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing and Wenger accepts the fixture between the FA Cup winners and the Premier League champions will not have the feel of a friendly given the history between them.
Arsenal have been on a gruelling tour to Australia and China, where they overcame Bayern Munich and the squad were hit with a sickness bug, but Wenger believes the Chelsea fixture could give an indication as to what will be left to fine tune on their return to London.
The Gunners will play two fixtures in the Emirates Cup next weekend before tackling Chelsea again in the FA Community Shield ahead of the season opener against Leicester on August 11, live on Sky Sports.
"It is difficult to predict, but I think it is a friendly between Arsenal and Chelsea, that means it is not really a friendly," Wenger said at a news conference in Beijing.
"There is some pride at stake and a desire to win. It was a very interesting game in the FA Cup final, we play them in the Charity Shield [Community Shield] and then play them early in the [Premier League] season as well.
"In fact, we know each other very well and it is difficult how to know how prepared Chelsea are and how far we are for the preparation tomorrow. It was a good indication against Bayern, it will be another test for us tomorrow."
Wenger confirmed forward Theo Walcott was doubtful for Saturday's match, but the problem was "nothing major".
However, defender Laurent Koscielny expects to be able to feature despite a back problem and the France international feels the two-week tour has been worthwhile.
"For the team, I think last season we finished well and we worked well in Australia and China," he said. "We are focussed on the games and we want to win because that gives you confidence to play with freedom."
Alexis Sanchez has been given some extra time off following Chile's appearance at the Confederations Cup.
Sky sources understand Sanchez is Paris Saint-Germain's No 1 summer target, despite Arsene Wenger's insistence he is not for sale, and the Arsenal boss was briefly quizzed on the absence of his star man by the media at Friday's news conference.
When asked why Sanchez had not made the journey, Wenger said: "He played in the Confederations Cup and is on holiday."
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