Arsene Wenger eyes strong start to season after Community Shield win

The Gunners have lost on the opening day in three of the last four seasons. They face Leicester at Emirates Stadium on the back of a penalty shootout win after full time 1 - 1 draw at Wembley.

Wenger's future overshadowed much of last season for Arsenal, but after finally signing a new two-year contract in May it is now the future of two of his key players that dominates the thoughts of many at the club.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have both started the final season of their current contracts and both missed out on the matchday squad at Wembley, though they were present to join the celebrations on the pitch after Olivier Giroud's winning penalty.

And Wenger is confident that he can keep the camp happy and focused in the coming season.

"I cannot stop all the speculation but Sanchez is focused. For the 273rd time, yes [he will stay after 31 August]," Wenger said.

"We are here a lot today because of players like Sanchez and Ozil so I wanted them to be part of it.

"It's down to us to put a positive atmosphere around the team. A lot was created by my own situation. Maybe I made a mistake. Overall I believe that it's down to us. The trend has always to come from the team."

Thirteen of the 25 winners of the Premier League since 1992 have been teams who started the same season by contesting the Community Shield.

However, only seven winners of the trophy have gone on to win the title, with Manchester United the last to do so in the 2010-11 season.

Both Wenger and Chelsea boss Antonio Conte expect their respective sides to be in for a fight to win the Premier League this season.

Conte added: "There are six teams in England that can fight for the title. Don't forget today Arsenal didn't play with many players, strong players."

Conte was frustrated by the decisions by referee Bobby Madley to book Willian for diving in the penalty area in the first half and send off Pedro with 10 minutes to go.

The champions had taken the lead through Victor Moses at the start of the second half but conceded moments after Pedro's dismissal when Sead Kolasinac headed in Granit Xhaka's free-kick.

Chelsea have signed Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willy Caballero and Antonio Rudiger this summer but Conte has said he would like to strengthen further before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

The Blues' lack of strength in depth was perhaps evident as four of the seven Chelsea substitutes on Sunday were academy players.