Three reasons Arsenal can win the Community Shield

We are just a few hours away from the annual English football curtain raiser, with our beloved Arsenal set to take on the lot from Stamford Bridge. Arsenal vs Chelsea will never be just a friendly match for a myriad of reasons, perhaps no two bigger than the men at the helms of the clubs. You get the sense for the first time in a while that the match is more than a “glorified friendly” and I think we will see two sides who genuinely want to win it today.

The sub plots are there.

Wenger faces off with Mourinho attempting to beat his counterpart for the first time in 13 attempts, while Arsenal attempt to beat Chelsea for the first time since 2011. New boy Petr Cech faces his old club for the first time in what is his official Arsenal debut and will be looking to prove a point, while Arsenal could really use a win to kick start a strong start to the season. The makings are there for an enthralling affair and for me Arsenal have a good chance of winning it. Have a look at three reason Arsenal can win the Community Shield.

Off to a flying start

Arsenal are in blistering form at the moment as far a pre season goes, winning 4 out of 4 games and outscoring their opponents 14 to 1. Of course pre season is nothing to get carried away about, but the focus and commitment shown by our lads is enough to convince me they will be right up for it today. There has been much talk about the importance of starting this season strong, and avoiding making the same mistakes and slow start of last season, and the squad really looks to be keen to uphold that. Everton, Lyon, and Wolfsburg are no slouches either, with the latter defeating Bayern Munich yesterday in the German curtain raiser. Chelsea have had a rather indifferent pre season in comparison, surprisingly losing to New York Red Bulls while clawing to draws with PSG and Barca. Though early, the form book points to Arsenal.

Health is key

Arsenal nearly have a clean bill of health, with only Danny Welbeck out injured. Sanchez and Ospina won’t be in the squad for resting purposes, but other than that Arsenal are at full strength. Chelsea have no major injuries to report either, but with Costa and Cahill suffering scares against Barca, Mourinho just may opt to rest them. Not that Arsenal need a weakened Chelsea side to win of course, but Mourinho airing on the side of caution would be a sensible approach given no points are at stake. Advantage Arsenal.

Onus bonus

Arsenal haven’t beaten Chelsea since October 29th 2011. Wenger hasn’t beaten Mourinho in 13 attempts. I wouldn’t keep banging on if these weren’t relevant or important figures. They are also unnacelptable, and Wenger and the lads know this all too well. Nearly four years without a win against one of your most bitter rivals and motivation enough to take this match seriously. Or any match against them for that matter, and the onus is firmly on Arsenal. Arsenal need a win for confidence sake. Confidence that we can compete with Chelsea and confidence that we can start the season off on a high. I think that will weigh in the lads minds a bit, the fact that those lot seem to get the better of us in recent times. Now is the time for a signal of intent, and what better way than to finally beat them and lift the trophy at their expense. Arsenal have won four in a row at Wembley as well, and will be looking to continue that trend.