Arsenal picked up the first piece of silverware of the season by beating rivals Chelsea in a penalty shootout following an entertaining 1-1 draw at Wembley in The Community Shield.
There are still plenty of lessons to be learned from this match, despite it being so early on in the season. Both Arsene Wenger and Antonio Conte will certainly have much to ponder before the big Premier League kick-off next weekend.
5Arsenal’s Rotten Luck With Injuries Continues
There is no doubt that Arsenal have suffered from a significant amount of injuries in recent years and this has hampered their ability to challenge for major trophies. This is one of the main reasons why Arsenal supporters have been pleading with Wenger to add quality to the squad so that when their star players pick up an injury, they have someone equally good to fill the void.
Coming into today’s match, the Gunners had seven players ruled out through injury. The likes of Joel Campbell, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshire, Francis Coquelin and Gabriel Paulista were all unavailable for selection. However, Wenger’s injury headache got even worse halfway through the first session as Per Mertesacker was forced off after receiving a hefty knock to the face from Gary Cahill’s elbow.
