The Community Shield match will take place this year between the Premier League and FA Cup winners as usual, but two weeks before the new campaign starts.

Premier League champions Liverpool will face either Arsenal or Chelsea in the Community Shield in August, depending on the winner of the FA Cup final on Saturday. The game will take place on Saturday, August 29th, according to the FA.

This is two weeks before the start of the Premier League season, which is a bit inconvenient.

It’s not hard to see why they’re scheduling it so early, with international fixtures at the start of September. But for Arsenal, it would mean a gap of just four weeks between competitive matches.

That means they need to take their summer holiday, return to training and get back up to speed in that time. Even worse for Chelsea, who have a Champions League match to play before their holiday begins.

They’re unlikely to make it past Bayern Munich, but if they do, it throws their participation Community Shield into further doubt. Even if Arsenal lose on Saturday, I wouldn’t entirely rule out the FA calling them in for the traditional curtain-raiser anyway.

The one positive is that they’ve confirmed the situation early. At least Arsenal know what dates they’re planning around, which gives them time to prepare. But it’s certainly not looking like we’ll get a long summer break from club football.