CHELSEA VS ARSENAL: PREVIEW

On August second, Premier League champions Chelsea take on FA Cup winners Arsenal for the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium.  The annual curtain raiser is always treated as more of a friendly than a hotly contested match, but an Arsenal-Chelsea match is always hard fought.  The two sides will want to get off on a good start, and neither manager will want the other to get one over on the other.  Everyone knows how much Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho dislike each other.  With the footballing philosophies of the two at opposite ends of the spectrum, it’s no surprise the two dislike each other.  The gunners are the current holders of the Community Shield after beating Manchester City in last seasons edition 3-0.

Team News

Both teams have been able to stay relatively injury free during preseason, meaning we could see two quite strong squads.

Arsenal though, will be without their reigning player of the season Alexis Sanchez.  The Chilean will be on his extended holiday after lifting the Copa America.  They’ll also be without Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky.  The pair are struggling with knee injuries and Arsene Wenger has already ruled them out.

Chelsea have been given a fitness boost for this one.  Despite both going out with injury during the last preseason game, Diego Costa and Gary Cahill

Key Men

Arsenal: Petr Čech

Arsenal’s summer signing will have to be their main man if they are to beat Chelsea.  As stated above, Arsenal have not scored a goal against Chelsea in the era of petr cech.  They’ll need their Czech magician to prove a point.  Luckily, if there is one person capable of doing this, it’s Cech. .

Chelsea: Eden Hazard

Chelsea have lots of star power in their squad, from Diego Costa, to Cesc Fabregas, to John Terry, but there isn’t a bigger star at Stamford Bridge than Eden Hazard.  The reigning Premier League player of the year is Chelsea’s most important player week in week out.  For all that Cesc Fabregas brings to the Chelsea team in terms of goals and assists, Chelsea’s Belgian superstar is the reason they’re as good as they are.  He is vital to everything they do going forward, and this match will be no different.  He’s got bags of talent and, according to his manager, is the second best player in the world.  While that may be a bit of a stretch, Hazard is a special player and one that Chelsea will need to thrive if they are to defend their Premier League title.

Prediction

These matches are always very tough to predict because no one knows how fit each team will be, and no one knows what teams the managers will play.  One thing we do know is that Arsenal will be missing Alexis Sanchez, which will be a big blow to the gunners hopes. But with the their summer signing Petr Cech, Arsenal defense will coordinated. Also Chelsea will be missing their star forward Diego Costa. For me, Arsenal will come out on top.

Prediction: 2-1 Arsenal

So what do you think?