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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
What’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.
Chelsea: 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
41 mins: Kolasinac shows a turn of pace, leaving Batshuayi for dust, but his ball to Oxlade-Chamberlain is slightly overcooked.
42 mins: David Luiz with a bit of showboating in his own penalty area there. Under pressure, the Brazilian flicks the ball over Lacazette's head and then nods it backwards for Courtois to collect. The Chelsea fans enjoyed that one.
44 mins: Brilliant play from Iwobi. A burst of pace followed by a one-two with Oxlade-Chamberlain sees the Nigerian into the box. He's surrounded by three Chelsea defenders but a nifty piece of footwork gets him clear. His low shot lacks pace however and Courtois saves easily.
45 mins: Welbeck skies one over the bar from 25 yards. That one's coming down with snow on it.
45+3 mins: Corner for Arsenal at the end of the first-half. It comes to nothing.
HALF-TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea
Arsene Wenger will probably be the happier of the two managers heading into the break at Wembley. Arsenal have had much of the better play and are unlucky not to be one up after Lacazette's strike against the post. Will we see an early change from Antonio Conte?
GOAL Chelsea! Moses (46 mins)
Arsenal struggle to clear from a corner. Cahill nods it back into the mixer and it falls to Victor Moses who controls the ball with his chest and fires it past Petr Cech from point blank range.
You have to say that has come against the run of play in the match. Chelsea look very lively now. A few choice words from Conte at half-time perhaps?
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