Football
Colin Udoh, Special to ESPN 7y

Community Shield: Victor Moses, meet Alex Iwobi

Four of Nigeria's Super Eagles starting XI now play in England's Premier League. Of that number, three are forwards.

On Sunday, two of those come face-to-face as League champions Chelsea take on FA Cup winners Arsenal in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the season.

When the clubs met in the Cup Final at the end of last season, things did not end well for either Chelsea, or Moses on a personal level. And while Alex Iwobi celebrated, not being personally involved on the pitch would not have been pleasing either.

Moses, who did feature, picked up a second yellow card for simulation, a measure of the frustration which Arsenal's smothering pressing, zippy play and enchanting magic had subjected the champions to.

Such was Arsenal's dominance that even before the sending off, an alien would have been stunned to learn that the Gunners had finished 18 points behind their neighbours in blue for the League title, or that Moses was one of Chelsea's outstanding performers during that run.

As for Iwobi, the closest he came to the action on the day was joining the rest of the squad to hoist the trophy in celebration.

Both players have been prominent fixtures in their club's pre-season games and should expect to play some part, at the very least, in the final friendly fixture before the season kicks off in earnest.

Moses was in danger of missing the game following that red card, but as with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny, he has been cleared to play and will miss the season opener against Burnley instead for that red card at Wembley.

The omens do not look good for Chelsea though. The Blues have lost five of their last six Community Shield contests, and the last of those reverses came against Arsenal in 2015, when they lost 1-0. Their solitary win came when they beat Manchester United 4-1 on penalties in 2009 after the game ended 2-2 in regulation time.

If both players do find themselves on the pitch at the same time, they could be in direct confrontation. Moses, deployed as a wingback under Antonio Conte, would be tasked with nullifying the direct threat posed by his younger, silky-skilled international teammate, who is usually deployed wide on the left of Arsenal's frontline.

Nigerians hardly need any motivation to keep up their appetite for Premier League football, especially after a long summer of drought. But the sight of two Nigerians going head-to-head will certainly provide more than enough additional spice. And talking points.

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