Community Shield: Arsenal v Chelsea
Arsenal and Chelsea meet again at Wembley on Sunday in English football’s traditional curtain raiser. This year’s match pits the winners of the English Premier League champions and the winners of the FA Cup. A match that involves these two rarely serves up to disappoint. We had recently been treated to a taste of what to come a few weeks ago in Beijing, China where Chelsea ran out three nil victors on that occasion. Fans will be able to have a proper look at the new signings on both sides.
Team news
Arsene Wenger is likely to continue in the now favoured three man defence which has been a common theme in their pre-season tour. There is much uncertainty surrounding star man Alexis Sanchez who could be a doubt for the match due to the fact he just resumed training about a week ago. Francis Conquelin sustained an injury in the Emirates Cup and remains a doubt; Laurent Koscienly will be available for selection despite his ban. New boys, Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac are expected to feature.
Victor Moses is available for selection despite receiving his matching orders in the FA Cup final, Hazard (ankle) and summer signing Bakayoko (knee) are recovering and will not be available, Pedro remains a doubt after just returning to training. Strikers Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi could start together.
What the managers say
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: “For us, it is just a good opportunity to repeat the performance of the final. I would say that Chelsea look like they have kept the basis of 95% of their squad. They have added Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is a very strong player, a strong ball-winner, similar to Nemanja Matic. They have replaced Costa with Morata”
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte: “It was a pity to lose the FA Cup final against Arsenal after a really great season for us. Now there is another game. We know very well Arsenal are a strong team. We are expecting a difficult game and we want to start the season with a win”
Probable Line Ups
Arsenal (3-4-3): Cech; Holding, Koscienly, Monreal; Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil, Welbeck, Giroud
Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Pedro, Batshuayi
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
