DPA/London


Premier League champions Chelsea and FA Cup winners Arsenal will have their eyes on early-season silverware when they square off in the English Community Shield on Sunday.
The match at Wembley Stadium traditionally opens the new Premier League season, which kicks off on Aug. 8, and Gunners manager Arsene Wenger knows a win can provide a boost for his side as they seek their first league title since 2004.
“It’s our next game and the first trophy is at stake,” he said. “We will want to win the game of course.
“It doesn’t give you a guarantee that you start strong in the competition but it’s still better for the confidence and the belief of the group.”
Chelsea just returned from a three-game tour of North America that ended with penalty shoot-out victories over fellow European powers Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
While Blues manager Jose Mourinho has lamented his players’ lack of training time so far, he expects them to be well motivated with a trophy on the line. Especially against one of their main rivals.
“We go to the Community Shield with 21 days of preparation which obviously is not enough,” he said. “It’s a title, the least important one but it’s the opening of the official season in England.
“It’s a London derby, a top team and also a rival. It’s still a preparation match but the cup is there and the cup is always a motivation.
“We are going there with a different spirit and a different mentality.”
Mourinho’s side are likely to go up against a familiar face in new Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The 33-year-old joined the Gunners in June after 11 seasons with the Blues in which he won 13 major trophies and recorded 228 clean sheets.
“It’ll be an unknown feeling for me to play against Chelsea,” he told the London Evening Standard newspaper. “Once I am on the pitch, I want to win.
“I want my best for my teammates, my club and the fans.
“For 90 minutes there will be no friends.”
The feeling will be the same on the other side of the pitch where former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will patrol the Chelsea midfield.
The Spaniard said that while he has great memories and respect for his old club, that goes out the window once the referee blows the opening whistle, even in a pre-season match.
“We want to win and compete,” he said. “It is a big game, a London derby at Wembley in front of all the fans.
“It’s a nice competition to play in and even if it is a pre-season game, you still want to win.”
Arsenal have won on five straight visits to Wembley, including the past two FA Cup finals and last season’s 3-0 rout of Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Even with that success, German defender Per Mertesacker says this trip to England’s national stadium can serve as a learning experience.
“When we’ve headed to Wembley in the past, it’s generally either been for a semi-final or a final,” he told the club’s website. “There’s always been that special tension and we could always handle that pressure.
“We haven’t played Chelsea at Wembley in such a situation for a long time. They played really well last season, they were really consistent and always defended well from the front.
“I think if we can learn something from Chelsea, it’s to be consistent over the whole season.”