English soccer is back this Sunday night! Ahead of the EPL season kicking off next weekend, the annual Community Shield match will be played on Sunday night between Chelsea and Arsenal. We take a look at the match and give our tips below.
Obviously it’s near impossible to attempt to make predictions given the time off both teams have had over the past few months and the changes they have made. The annual Community Shield game pits the previous years League winners against the winners of the FA Cup, so at the very least we can say the two clubs have some resemblance of form.
The two teams will meet at Wembley for the second time in just a few months as Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup final back in May, denying them the double.
Both teams have been relatively busy over the off season with Arsenal picking up the services of Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette which will drastically improve their previously lacklustre forward line. Lacazette will likely replace Alexis Sanchez as the primary striker, moving Sanchez to his preferred right wing.
On the Chelsea front, they have picked up gun striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, who will also address their primary concern with the rumours surrounding the departure of Diego Costa.
Both teams will be excited to unveil their new key signings, however, Arsenal have arguably done better at retaining their talent from 2016, with key players to the Chelsea defence in Kurt Zouma and Nemanja Matic.
In saying that, Chelsea will likely stick with the defensive formation that made them the best team in the league last season with Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta holding the back three while N’Golo Kante floats back from the midfield.
Tough game to pick but going into this one out game that is essentially a friendly we have to go with the defensive structure that is tried and true over all of last year. We like Chelsea to earn the win in this one 2-1.
TIP: Chelsea to win - $2.25 at Sportsbet
TIP: Both teams to score - $1.62 at Ladbrokes
Follow @andyrosos on Twitter for more tips and nonsensical sports comments
