Wenger Wary Of Another Slow Arsenal Start

Arsenal have lost three of their last four opening matches of the English Premier League (EPL), but manager Arsene Wenger is wary of a repeat of such when the season starts on Friday.

Arsenal kick off the 2017/2018 EPL on Friday with a game against Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger believes the strength of competition in the Premier League means his side cannot afford another false start if they are to challenge for the title.

“We want to find a good balance between the confidence we can get out of these games and the urgency that every Premiership game demands,” he told reporters at Wembley.

“We had some bad starts in the last four years in the first game of the Premiership.

“But we had the intensity in our preparation games that is needed to be ready so let’s go into the Premiership with the same discipline, the same spirit, and see where we can go.

“If you look at the Premiership, you have seven, eight teams who will say, ‘We can win the Premier League.’ That makes it very interesting.”

Arsenal beat Chelsea 4-1 on penalties to win the Community Shield for the third time in 4 years after the game finished 1-1.

Arsenal were without Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, with the former still regaining fitness after the Confederations Cup and the two other players nursing minor injuries.