FA Community Shield: Chelsea V Arsenal Live – London Rivals Meet In Season Opener At Wembley

FA Community Shield: Chelsea V Arsenal

Sunday August 2nd. 3PM. BT Sport 1

English football returns with Sunday’s Community Shield and it should be a cracking curtain-raiser as Premier League champion Chelsea face FA Cup holders Arsenal at Wembley.

The London rivals are both being tipped as potential champions in 2015/16 and, whilst this contest isn’t hugely important in the grand scheme of things, both managers will be eager to strike an early mental blow.

Football is back!
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Blues Looking To Continue Head-To-Head Dominance

Jose Mourinho’s men were fantastic as they clinched the Premier League title in 2014/15 and the Blues will be confident about claiming another trophy here.

They’ve already beaten the white half of North London at Wembley this year, as they won the Capital One Cup. The Blues can also take huge confidence from their recent record over the Gunners. Chelsea haven’t conceded to Arsenal in five matches, and the likes of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic will be eager to start 2015/16 with another clean sheet.

However, Arsenal’s attack could test the Blues and Moruinho’s men might need to score a few goals to win this season opener. Fortunately, Chelsea have Diego Costa should give the Blues a great chance of goals. Meanwhile, midfielders Eden Hazard, Oscar and Cesc Fabregas will add further ammunition while the West Londoners are also a major threat from set-piece routines.

Winning the Community Shield is hardly a priority for the Blues. But Mourinho is a natural born winner and will demand a positive showing from his side. Expect a big performance from the Blues.

Gunners Firing On All Cylinders

Spirits are high around the Emirates right now and Arsene Wenger will be hoping to follow a promising pre-season by finally ending his recent voodoo against Chelsea.

Arsenal haven’t beaten the Blues since October 2011, suffering a couple of humiliating defeats along the way. However, this is their most promising squad for a number of years and the likes of Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil will be eager to pick up where they left off in last week’s Emirates Cup.

The Gunners are still being linked with the possibility of signing one or two big names. However, Wenger has already captured one huge signing in goalkeeper Petr Cech, who should be set to start against his former club on Sunday.

Arsenal are likely to rest Alexis Sanchez, who helped Chile to Copa America glory this summer, but the Gunners are still firing all cylinders. A magical comeback saw them win the trophy against Manchester City last year; beating Chelsea would fire a warning shot to their title rivals ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

Whatever happens, it should be an exciting encounter. Football is back!

FA Community Shield: Chelsea V Arsenal Betting

The defending league champions were the best side in the country by a considerable distance last term and are favourites to start the 2015/16 campaign with a win at 13/10 with Bet365. The Gunners are priced 2/1 to win the trophy in 90 minutes while you can back the draw at 12/5.

Despite recent league matches, we think this curtain-raiser at Wembley will be exciting. There’s a lot of great attacking talent on display and none come better than last year’s PFA Player of the Year.

Hazard has impressed during pre-season and has been singled out by his manager as truly fantastic talent. The Blues will be eager to unleash their key man and we’re backing the Belgian to open the scoring here.

[quote_center]Eden Hazard first golascorer @ 13/2 with Paddy Power[/quote_center]

Although we fancy Chelsea to take the lead, there’s no doubt that Arsenal will be confident about finally ending their drought against the Blues, especially after their emphatic showings in last weekend’s Emirates Cup matches.

The less competitive nature of this contest should mean that entertainment is the aim of the day, as it was in last year’s even between the gunners and Manchester City. Arsenal have been involved in some highly explosive contests at Wembley over the past couple of years and we’re expecting that theme of goals to continue in Sunday’s showdown.

[quote_center]Over 2.5 match goals @ 19/20 with Bet365[/quote_center]