Chelsea take on Arsenal

2005-08-05 19:45

London - As a warm-up to the Premier League season, it doesn't get much bigger than this: Chelsea versus Arsenal.

The league champion plays the FA Cup winner at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on Sunday in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the season.

"I think in relation to the championship, it means nothing," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday. "But it is Chelsea-Arsenal and nobody likes to lose. I think it will be a competitive match."

Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 to win last season's Community Shield when the Gunners were the defending champions. This time last year, Arsenal were midway through an unbeaten league streak that stretched to 49 matches. When that ended in October, so did Arsenal's title hopes, and the Gunners finished 12 points behind Chelsea.

"You need to create your luck, you can't sit down and wait for it, and they (Chelsea) were creating it," Arsenal captain Thierry Henry said.

Henry takes over the captaincy from Patrick Vieira, who was sold to Juventus last month after nine years at the club. The French striker knows that Arsenal will have to work harder, and not just wait for Chelsea to stumble.

"I'm sure when we finished the season unbeaten last year, people were saying the same thing: How can you catch them?" Henry said.

"A team is really fragile, sometimes things don't go your way, and it can take a month to get back on track. Maybe that can happen to Chelsea. And if it doesn't, we all have to be strong to compete with them."

Mourinho wants to start the season with a victory - the Blues have beaten Arsenal only once in 20 meetings. He says high expectations could be a problem.

"The surprise effect is not here any more," Mourinho said. "At this moment, everybody believes we can win the championship again. It will be more difficult. We have to look game after game, opponent after opponent and try to get the points."

- AP