Arsene Wenger urges Arsenal to end their opening day slump by beating Leicester in Premier League curtain-raiser
Gunners have lost at home to Liverpool and West Ham in the past two years and Wenger wants to avoid unwanted hat-trick against the Foxes on Friday night
ARSENE WENGER believes Arsenal can end their poor run of opening day form by beating Leicester on Friday night.
The Gunners have lost their first match of the season in the past two years and Wenger is desperate to avoid an unwanted hat-trick.
Liverpool beat Arsenal at the Emirates in the opening weekend last season, while West Ham inflicted a shock home defeat the year before.
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And Wenger is anxious his players start the right way this time round by seeing off Craig Shakespeare's side as they kick-off the new Premier League season in the live televised game.
He said: "It’s true in the recent years, sometimes down to special circumstances, we have not done well on the opening day.
"Sometimes we were coming off the back of a World Cup year or a European Championship and some of the players had not been long back in training.
"And also we faced some good teams in Liverpool and West Ham.
"But we have a good opportunity to show we had a good preparation and that we are ready.
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"Leicester have a good way to stop people, they defend very well and counter attack well. We have to play at a good pace against them."
Arsenal boosted confidence by beating Chelsea to win the Community Shield last week, but they have been hit by the loss of Alexis Sanchez for at least the next two matches through injury.
The Chilean has an abdominal strain and Wenger said he will miss at least the first two games of the season.
That rules him out of the Gunners' trip to Stoke a week on Saturday, a game Wenger would hope to have him available for.
They will be desperate for their star man to return in time for their third match of the season, an even tougher journey to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.
Sanchez's future has been in doubt since last season and fans will be forgiven for wondering if they have seen the last of him in an Arsenal shirt.