Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit back claims that his 13-game run without a win against Jose Mourinho will affect his team against Chelsea, reports The Sun.
The two teams face each other in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, in what will be the curtain raiser for the coming season. Whoever wins the encounter could have a significant mental edge over the other in the Premier League, which may be vital as they both go for the title.
In Mourinho’s two stints at Stamford Bridge the Frenchman has been unable to gain a single win over his counterpart, and there have been several contentious incidents between the pair. Mourinho has called the 65-year-old a ‘voyeur’, and a ‘specialist in failure’, and the duo nearly came to blows on the touchline during a match last season.
“That doesn’t bother me at all,” Wenger said of the supposed curse, “It’s part of the game that people will read significance into the result. We have to accept every match is decided and judged as definite. The tribunal is out there and will draw conclusions from Sunday.
“But we know it’s not like that in real life. It’s a game that is important but it still just preparation. We want to win it because it can give us a bit more confidence before we go into the season. But no matter whether the result is positive or negative, we have to continue our way and focus on ourselves.”
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Another important part of the match on Sunday will be Petr Cech’s likely competitive debut for the Gunners against his former club. The Blues let him go to a direct rival despite still being a top-class player at 33-years-old, and it will be interesting to see how he is received by the fans who used to adore him.