Arsenal Coach Wenger Warns Moses, Tomori, Chelsea : This Is Not A Friendly

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has said that his team will not be treating Saturday's showdown with Chelsea at the  Beijing National Stadium (Beijing) like a friendly.

Ahead of this pre-season fixture, the pressure appears to be on Chelsea because they lost twice to the Gunners last season, including the showpiece game of the Emirates FA Cup two months ago.

''It’s always difficult to predict, but [although] it’s a friendly between Chelsea and Arsenal, it’s not really a friendly because there’s always some pride at stake and some London desire to have the superiority,''Wenger told arsenal.com.

''It was a very interesting game in the final of the FA Cup, and we play against Chelsea in the Community Shield, and again very early in the season.''

The Frenchman added : ''We know each other very well and it’s difficult to know how prepared Chelsea are and how far we are with our preparations.

''Saturday will be a good indication of that and we were good against Bayern. This is another test for us before the season.''

Three players of Nigerian descent Victor Moses, Fikayo Tomori (both Chelsea) and Arsenal's Alex Iwobi are poised to feature in Saturday afternoon's clash.

Igho Kingsley