After such a long wait, the curtain raiser to the season is here again as the defending Premier League and FA Cup champions lock horns in what would prove to be another tasty encounter. There’s no love lost between Arsenal and Chelsea and when both teams meet, it’s always like a battle between the Night Watch and the Wildlings. Even Arsene Wenger has confirmed that this game isn’t going to be a friendly match. Wenger and Jose Mourinho have battled each other for quite some time, and the Press knows about their publicized dislike for each other. While the Arsenal manager does his bit to ensure things don’t spiral out of control anytime he’s asked about Mourinho and his Rent Boys, you can’t say the same for the Portuguese manager that enjoys being in the spotlight.
The last time both teams faced off, Chelsea needed to avoid defeat at the home of football in their bid to win the 2014/15 Premier League title. They achieved that feat with a stalemate and you could see the elation of the players as they came to North London with a game plan and it’s fair to say they got it right. The Blues went on to win the title but Arsenal suffered a dip in form that saw them crash to third place when second spot was in their grasp.
Arsenal has a pretty enviable record in this competition with Wenger winning five of the seven Community Shield finals his team has featured in. Wenger’s last loss in the tournament was to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea where Didier Drogba put the Gunners to the sword with two goals. Wenger hasn’t beaten Mourinho in 13 attempts.
Arsenal Team News
This game would be of particular interest to Petr Cech that left the Blues to join Arsenal this summer. He has been the only Arsenal signing as well, as the fans would be patiently waiting to see if the Gunners as a holding midfielder and a striker anytime soon. However, the squad is relatively stocked in all playing positions, and I hope Wenger would be able to keep everybody happy by rotating efficiently.
Arsenal Injury News
According to Arsene Wenger, the only player currently in the casualty list is Danny Welbeck, but the Copa America stars, Alexis Sanchez and David Ospina, aren’t fit enough to be with the team yet.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup
Chelsea Team News
The Rent Boys have been in the United States for some time now, participating in the International Champions Cup. They lost their opening game to New York Red Bulls and they’ve had to rely on the lottery of penalties to ease past Paris St. Germain and FC Barcelona. They have a game against Fiorentina lined up for August 5th, which essentially means that they’d be traveling from London after the Community Shield to play their final fixture of the preseason tournament before hosting Swansea next week Saturday.
Chelsea Injury News
Diego Costa suffered a hamstring injury in one of their preseason encounters and I doubt if Jose Mourinho would want to risk the player with the likes of Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy available for selection. Gary Cahill is also a major doubt and suffering a broken nose in the game against Barcelona but if he has to play, he’d have to wear a face mask that would make him look like Zorro.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup
Team Form
Arsenal
- Last Five Games: W W W W W
- Last Result: Arsenal 1 (Walcott 50?) – Wolfsburg 0
- Leading Goalscorer: Chuba Akpom (3)
Chelsea
- Last Five Games: W W L D D
- Last Result: Chelsea 2 (Hazard 10′, Cahill 86′) – Barcelona 2 (Suarez 52′, Sandro 66′)
- Leading Goalscorer: Eden Hazard (2)
Gooner Daily predicts 2 – 1 to the Arsenal
Sayonara.
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