Gary Cahill expects Chelsea to face ‘a good test’ from Arsenal for Community Shield

Chelsea defender says Community Shield match will set tone for 2015/16 season.

Chelsea’s Gary Cahill, right, has all the respect for London rivals Arsenal ahead of their Community Shield game. Andrew Couldridge / Reuters

Gary Cahill wants Chelsea to lay down a marker for the season ahead in Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Arsenal at Wembley.

The Premier League champions face the FA Cup winners in the season curtain-raiser, a week before the domestic campaign begins.

England defender Cahill played down the significance of the result at Wembley Stadium on the campaign in its entirety, but nevertheless he wants a victory to start things on a high.

“It won’t have an impact on the season as a whole, but it’s a marker,” Cahill said.

“Every time you take to the field you want to win the game. It’s a big game, against a local rival and good opposition. It will be a good test for us.”

Arsenal are one of the sides – along with Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool – expected to challenge Jose Mourinho’s side for the title as they seek to be the first side since United in 2009 to retain their crown.

Arsenal bolstered their squad by signing goalkeeper Petr Cech after 11 trophy-laden years at Chelsea in a move sanctioned by the latter club’s owner, Roman Abramovich.

Asked about facing Cech, Cahill said: “It will be strange. He was part of the fixtures and fittings at Chelsea, for many, many years.

“Top goalkeeper, great guy, but it’s down to business and I’m sure he’ll feel the same way.

“Everyone’s professional and everyone will want to do the job and get the right result for their team.”

Cahill says he knows how difficult it will be for Chelsea to successfully retain the title they won last term as they prepare to start their title defence next Saturday evening at Stamford Bridge against Swansea City.

He added: “A lot of teams have strengthened again this year. The league is as competitive as it’s ever been. It’s going to be very tough.

“People want to beat the champions. We were in the same situation. We’re going to have that this year.

“We did it last year. We want to try to do it again this year.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho said he could adopt a two-pronged attack with Colombian Radamel Falcao offering more options for the coming season after joining on loan from Monaco.

Falcao struggled to impress during a similar spell at Manchester United last season, but Mourinho has great faith in a player who will wear the No 9 shirt for Chelsea.

Diego Costa shouldered most of the striking burden last season as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system, but he laboured after an explosive start.

Loic Remy offers pace and width, but Falcao, Mourinho says, could play in tandem with either.

Falcao joined up with his new teammates in New York, where Chelsea drew 2-2 with Barcelona in a friendly.

But Mourinho has already seen enough to believe he can make a big impact at Stamford Bridge.

“In the last 20 minutes against Barcelona (in last week’s friendly), we played with Loic Remy and Falcao,” Mourinho said.

“They did very well, not just to bring the team forward but also with one less player in midfield they closed the spaces in front of the midfield line. We can play with two.

“Falcao came on and suddenly the team was direct and objective. They closed the lines and played in the opposition half. Falcao held the ball up very well.

“I’m very happy with his first week. I like him a lot as a player. The team play very well with a striker of his quality.

“He’s not just a guy that can score a goal; he can also contribute a lot to the quality of the game.”

Falcao is expected to play a role in Sunday’s match amid concerns over Costa’s hamstring.

“I believe (Costa is free of injury), but I’m not worried about it. I go match after match,” Mourinho said.

“(We have) three top strikers. If one is injured, we have two. No concerns, no protections. It’s a position where we’re very strong.”

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