Winning the title will be mouch tougher this time, says Jose Mourinho

Costa was missing here because of the recurring hamstring problems that prematurely ended his involvement last season and if that is going to be a regular issue over the next 10 months Chelsea could be in trouble.

The Gunners secured a long-overdue victory against Chelsea in the FA Community Shield on Sunday with a well-executed first-half goal by Oxlade-Chamberlain.

There had been much anticipation of Hazard’s performance in the game following a brilliant solo goal against Barcelona in pre-season, and quotes from his manager in which he referred to him as better than Cristiano Ronaldo did nothing to lower expectations. Man City is a squad to love and a club with two Premier Leagues in the last four or five years.

While the Community Shield will be an afterthought by the time the major prizes are handed out in May, Terry is such a driven character that the sight of Arsenal’s players lifting the silverware has added fuel to his competitive fire.

The only reason for Chelsea to come second or even lower is due to the fact that they have not bought enough players into the team.

Chelsea won the title in May with a commanding lead of eight points over second-placed Manchester City and they are the favourites to retain the trophy in the new season which kicks off on Saturday.

It’s hard to say whether Arsenal are legitimate title contenders, but one thing is certain – if they find a way to play consistent throughout the season, they will be able to fight Chelsea for the title.

“I shook a few hands today after the game, but there’s nothing special there”, said Wenger, who shoved the Blues boss in last season’s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Cech will give Arsenal the experience between the sticks they have craved for many years and their error count at the back should also be dramatically reduced.

“It’s served a good goal for that, but obviously we’re disappointed we didn’t win”.

The defeat signalled his first failure against Wenger in 14 meetings.

With the arrival of goalkeeper Petr Cech, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has finally heeded calls to build from the back.

I believe today we defended because maybe it was a bit of a psychological hurdle, Chelsea, in the head of my players. “I thought about my club and players and the winners and the stadium but I don’t think a manager has to shake hands with another if he doesn’t want to”. “We asked the question to ourselves and you could see we really want to compete and do the next step”.