by Lewis Ambrose
Whether or not you count the Community Shield, the season is very nearly upon us.
Arsenal face Chelsea at Wembley today and Petr Čech starts against his former team following an £11M move earlier in the summer.
In 13 meetings Arsène Wenger has never beaten José Mourinho, here is the team he has selected in the hope of changing that trend on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal XI: Čech; Bellerín, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal ; Coquelin, Cazorla; Ramsey, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Walcott.
Subs: Martinez, Gabriel, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Iwobi, Giroud.
Arsenal: Cech, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Ozil, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Monreal, Cazorla, Bellerin, Coquelin. #CommunityShield
— The FA (@FA) August 2, 2015
No shocks there then, and a strong looking bench for the Gunners despite the injury of Jack Wilshere.
Arsenal looked relaxed and confident upon arriving at Wembley earlier this afternoon, let’s hope that translates onto the pitch. Theo Walcott starts at Wembley ahead of Olivier Giroud once again and either Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Özil will begin out wide.
Chelsea start with a near full-strength team, with Ramires out wide to provide defensive cover and Loic Remy selected over Diego Costa.
Team v Arsenal: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Ramires, Willian, Hazard; Remy. #CFC #CommunityShield
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 2, 2015