Arsenal will aim to make it six consecutive victories at Wembley this weekend, as they take on Chelsea in the Community Shield.
The Gunners will return to the national stage following their recent success in the FA Cup, with Arsene Wenger setting his sights on victory over the Premier League champions.
And although we can never judge too much on the pre-season form of Jose Mourinho’s side, Sunday’s fixture is sure to spark a battle both on and off the pitch.
Chelsea have run riot over Wenger’s side in the last few seasons, with the Frenchman having never beaten a Blues side managed by Jose Mourinho.
However, with the recent capture of £11million Petr Cech and two pre-season trophies already in the bag, Arsenal look as good as they will ever to mount a serious fight.
Confidence is high in camp following the recent contract extensions of both Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott being signed to the pleasure of Gunners fans.
And it is no secret that Arsenal’s confidence at Wembley is high, following back-to-back FA Cup triumphs and an overwhelming 3-0 mauling of Manchester City in last years Community Shield.
But for all we know about our own side, there needs to be just as much focus on our opposition, so we’ve devised everything you need to know to finally break that Mourinho curse.
Just click on the page numbers below to get a full rundown on all of the important information regarding our London rivals.
Recent Results
It’s been a funny old pre-season for Chelsea, and it seems the 4’000 mile trip to USA left them suffering more than just a bad case of jet lag.
The efforts of PFA Player of the Year, Eden Hazard, were not enough to overcome an ever-improving New York Red Bulls side, as they lost 4-2 following a less than convincing performance.
Loic Remy also made a rare appearance on the scoresheet, but it was the locals who put four goals past new signing, Asmir Begovic.
As a result of the high temperatures, Mourinho made eight changes during the game in New Jersey, leaving the squad a short break before heading into the International Champions Cup.
And it was the heavy defeat from the Red Bulls that ensured everyone had their heads down ready to compete with both PSG and Barcelona.
After securing the Ligue 1 title with room to breathe, PSG seemed to be the perfect challengers for Mourinho’s side, and in a game that was full of frustration, it ended in exactly that.
A surprise strike from forgotten man, Victor Moses, ensured it wouldn’t be a show dedicated to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who opened the scoring in the first half.
Moses then replied to settle what seemed to be quite a dull affair from both sides, with neither manager opting to play their full strength team at any point during the 90 minutes.
And although the game finished at 1-1, the rules of the tournament took it straight to a penalty shootout, where it was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois who struck home the winner as both Thiago Silva and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck missed their spot-kicks.
The Spanish giants and current Champions League holders had also turned up for the tournament, but it was Eden Hazard yet again picking up an early goal inside the opening 10 minutes.
Following a stunning game full of attacking flare, Chelsea began to buckle under the pressure of Barca’s heavyweights, and it was former rival, Luis Suarez who netted home to level things up.
Sandro then picked up a rare goal to leave the Blues on the back-foot once again, before Gary Cahill forced the game to penalties with a late headed goal and taking a punch to the face in the process.
Chelsea then made it a 100% success rate from the spot, making sure their tour of the States ended in some sort of winning form.
Player To Watch: Eden Hazard
He was always going to be the player on every Arsenal fans mind building up to Sunday’s game, and Hazard hasn’t dropped out of the picture following yet another brilliant season.
The Belgian winger ran riot when it came to picking up the end of season awards, with his PFA Player of the Year plaudit topping the lot.
At just 24 years old, Hazard made an appearance in all of Chelsea’s 38 Premier League games during the 2014/15 campaign, scoring 14 goals in the process.
And he can now add two more strikes to his all-time records at the Blues, after scoring past New York Red Bulls and Barcelona.
Arsenal finally have the depth in defensive areas to deal with the problems that Hazard might bring up, but that doesn’t mean the left-sided attacker isn’t going to have a tough time.
Hector Bellerin is our man of the moment when it comes filling the right full-back slot, but his reliability when it comes to positioning has let him down.
Bellerin will have to cope with the added pressure of keeping tabs on Hazard, who is just as influential off the ball as well as on it.
If Wenger opts for Debuchy, which looks likely considering the way we need to line up, then he will most likely allow the Frenchman to sit and do a job defensively.
That will then allow Oxlade-Chamberlain or Aaron Ramsey to do all the attacking work down right hand side, which Hazard is sometimes reluctant to keep up with.
Team News
Chelsea will have a full squad to pick from when it comes to facing the Gunners at Wembley, despite concerns over two of their top players.
Diego Costa was rumoured to be out of the running following a recent knock, and Gary Cahill was uncertain whether he could play due to an injury to his face.
However, the Blues boss confirmed that he will have a full strength side to unleash on Wenger’s team, which means we’re in for one heck of a game.
The fact that Arsenal fans were holding onto the news that Cahill and Costa could miss this one is quite frankly a disappointment, as if they don’t have confidence in our side… STILL.
But what it means is we will now face the team that is most likely going to be our challengers for that all important Premier League trophy, following two bore draws in the 2014/15 campaign.
During a mid-week press conference with the official Chelsea FC website, Mourinho stated:
We are fine. Jet lag is minimal, the travelling was very short, it was a very good pre-season in terms of travelling.
We are in London since Wednesday morning, no problem.
We have three top strikers. If one is injured, we have two. No concerns, no protections.
It’s a position where we’re very strong. I’m not worried, match after match, and we have a fantastic group of strikers so no problem.
So you can expect a game of the highest quality on Sunday afternoon, and if its anything like last seasons Champions League, we’re sure in for some surprises.
The London clubs will kick off at 15:00 UK time, with the game being shown live only on BT Sport.
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