Arsenal vs Chelsea, Community Shield - as it happened: Gunners beat London rivals on penalties
Follow all the live action from the Community Shield as champions Chelsea take on FA Cup winners Arsenal
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When Chelsea faces Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday, the winner may be which team can best put a turbulent offseason behind them.
The traditional season curtain raiser at Wembley Stadium features league champion Chelsea against FA Cup winner Arsenal.
Past Community Shield matches have often lacked genuine competitiveness, but the shared summer of discontent and a fierce London rivalry should guarantee entertainment on Sunday.
Follow live coverage of the match below...
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When is it?
The Community Shield kicks-off on Sunday afternoon, at the slightly unusual time of 2pm.
Where can I follow it?
The game will be screened live on BT Sport 1, with their coverage beginning at 1pm.
Alternatively, you can follow all of the action with The Independent’s live blog. Simply return to this page an hour ahead of kick-off.
How Chelsea could line up next season
Show all 11What’s the latest team news?
Arsenal: Manager Arsene Wenger has been trying to keep hold of Alexis Sanchez as the Gunners attempt to return to the Champions League after missing out on qualification for the first time in 20 years. Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is desperate to increase the size of his "small squad" as the Blues prepare to defend its Premier League title.
“The strength of professional people is to not be diverted by noises that are not their problem,” Wenger said Thursday.
There's a lot of noise.
Sanchez was Arsenal's leading scorer with 30 goals last season, including the opener in its FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea at Wembley in May. He appears to have decided his future lies away from north London but Wenger disagrees.
“He is focused. My decision is clear, he will stay and he will respect that and that's as simple as that,” Wenger said of the Chile forward.
Despite signing France striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon in July for a club record 60 million euros (then $68 million), Arsenal has chosen to keep Sanchez for the final year of his contract. That risks the possibility of losing the 28-year-old star on a free transfer at the end of the season.
How could Arsenal line up this season?
Show all 12Chelsea: Conte won the title in his first season at Stamford Bridge with a squad lacking depth, but wants multiple new faces to cope with the additional strain of Champions League football.
“Now, for us, it's very important to try to improve our squad's numerical aspect, because we have a small squad and I think only one player is not enough to improve our team,” Conte said on Friday.
Chelsea has signed striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco and defender Antonio Rudiger from Roma during the offseason, but those arrivals have been offset by the departures of Nemanja Matic and John Terry. Also, Diego Costa is no longer wanted by Conte.
There have been reports of unrest between Conte and the Chelsea hierarchy over transfer policy, which were further fueled in July when the former Italy manager received a salary increase but did not extend his contract, which expires in 2019.
“The most important thing is the club knows my opinion and they're trying to do the best for our team, our squad,” Conte said. “Now we have to wait, we must have patience.”
What are the latest odds?
Arsenal to win in 90 minutes: 9/4
Chelsea to win in 90 minutes: 6/5
Draw after 90 minutes: 5/2
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Community Shield between London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea.
The game kicks off at 2pm, but team news is expected imminently.
Chelsea team: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c); Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro.
Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Christensen, Scott, Boga, Musonda, Morata
Arsenal team: Cech; Holding, Mertesacker (c), Monreal; Bellerin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elneny, Xhaka; Welbeck, Iwobi, Lacazette
Subs: Ospina, Kolasinac, Willock, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Walcott, Giroud
No Ozil or Sanchez
The teams are in and the big news for Arsenal is that neither Mesut Ozil nor Alexis Sanchez are in the matchday squad.
Ozil had been struggling with a slight knock but had been expected to play.
Meanwhile Sanchez is lacking match fitness after having only returned to training this week following a long rest after Chile's participation in the Confederations Cup.
There is a first start for new singing Alexandre Lacazette, while fellow summer arrival Sead Kolasinac has to make do with a place on the bench.
As for Chelsea, new boy Alvaro Morata takes a place on the bench which means Michy Batshuayi will lead the line alongside Willian and Pedro.
New signing Antonio Rudiger joins the Spaniard on the touchline but there's no place in the squad for Tiemoue Bakayoko who is still recovering from knee surgery.
Pre-match reading
While waiting for kick-off, have a read of Miguel Delaney's big match preview:
...and then get stuck into Arsene Wenger's thoughts on Neymar's world record move to PSG:
A, er, useful update from Wembley Stadium with less than half an hour until kick-off...
Here we go...
The teams are on the pitch, the flags are waving and the music is blaring. We're just a few moments from kick-off.
We're now having a moment's silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire.
All profits from today's game are being donated to charities helping the victims of the tragedy.
1 min: It's Batshauyi with the kick-off for Chelsea and we are under way!
3 mins: Arsenal build the first attack of the game after some slow possession play from Chelsea but the ball eventually drifts out for a goal kick.
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