Arsenal's false starts: Will Arsene Wenger's side buck the trend?

Wenger hopes Arsenal's Community Shield victory will lead to a fast start

Arsene Wenger has set Arsenal the target of 85 points in the Premier League this season, but how many of those will be gained on the opening weekend of the new campaign?

"We have had some bad starts recently in the last four years in the first game of the Premier League," acknowledged Wenger after Arsenal's signed off pre-season preparations
for their Friday Night Football opener against Leicester with victory over champions Chelsea in the Community Shield.
"We want to find a good balance between the confidence we can get out of these games and the urgency that every Premier League game demands."

Premier League,Today, 19:45pm

Arsenal v Leicester

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It's the demands of the season's opening weekend which Arsenal haven't met with particular success in recent years.

Arsenal vs Leicester

August 11, 2017, 7:00pm

While sprint finishes to seasons have remained a hallmark of Wenger's teams, fast starts were also a common feature in his most successful era with the Frenchman winning 10 of his first 13 opening-day Premier League fixtures and losing only one.

But it has been a different story so far this decade with a narrow victory at home to Crystal Palace in August 2014 Arsenal's only opening-day success in the last seven years.