Arsenal's Francis Coquelin and Olivier Giroud lift the trophy after winning the FA Community Shield against rival Chelsea. (Photo : Reuters)
FA Community Shield winners and last season's FA Challenge Cup champions Arsenal FC is scheduled to meet West Ham United FC for their 2015-2016 Premier League opener on August 9, Sunday at the Emirates Stadium in London.
Arsène Wenger's boys are coming off a brilliant offseason with six straight wins dating back to their FA Cup final 4-0 conquest of Aston Villa FC on May 30.
Their most recent game was an uplifting 1-0 Community Shield win over staunch rivals Chelsea FC at the Wembley Stadium on August 2, via BBC Sport. It was a memorable victory for Wenger as it was the first time in his 13 attempts that he defeated a team managed by Jose Mourinho. Wenger and Mourinho have some history in between them since The Special One called the 65-year-old mentor a "specialist in failure" two seasons ago.
Meanwhile, the Irons have just concluded their preseason training with a 1-2 friendly loss to Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen on Sunday, as per Goalsaim.
It was clearly not West Ham's best effort, but they had a decent offseason losing only once in five games prior to the Bremen setback.
Prediction: A 3-0 victory for Arsenal. Wenger's squad is better prepared in every way as compared to the Hammers. The Gunners are out on a mission to take the Premier League title away from Chelsea and this is just the first step of their journey.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Cech; Monreal, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Bellerin; Cazorla, Coquelin, Ramsey; Ozil, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain
West Ham starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Adrian; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Collins, O'Brien; Oxford, Zarate, Kouyate, Noble; Payet, Valencia
