The lineups are in for the FA Community Shield in England between Arsenal and Chelsea, and the defending Premier League champions will be missing one major piece.
Diego Costa out as Chelsea and Arsenal name Community Shield lineups
Chelsea’s leading striker misses out on England’s big curtain-raising match with a hamstring problem.
Diego Costa is out for Chelsea with what Jose Mourinho is describing as a “discomfort in his hamstring.” Given Costa’s hamstring issues over the past few seasons, treating that with caution is a wise move -- after all, why risk the long-term health of your best striker in a match that’s essentially a friendly?
Health doesn’t seem to be a major issue for Arsenal’s lineup choices, though there’s one interesting thing to note -- after a season that was largely lost to injury but saw a strong run of form late in the season, Theo Walcott is starting for the Gunners at center forward. It’s a little random, but could be quite fun to watch him work his pace against the slower legs of John Terry and Gary Cahill.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Francis Coquelln, Santi Cazorla; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey; Theo Walcott
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Thibaut Courtoius; Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta; Nemanja Matic, Ramires; Willian, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard; Loic Remy
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