Thibaut Courtois believes Chelsea ’s easy win over Arsenal bodes well for the coming campaign - given that the Gunners were further ahead in their pre-season.
Arsene Wenger’s men, who beat Chelsea in an FA Cup Final upset last season, were wiped out 3-0 at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium at the weekend.
The two teams meet again in the Community Shield on Saturday, August 6.
Courtois said: “For us it was just our second game and our first was against Fulham, which was more of a training game than a proper friendly. But it was Arsenal's fourth.
“It was a good way to start, we scored three goals, kept a clean sheet. We did defended well.”
Michy Batshuayi underlined his determination to force his way into Antonio Conte’s plans with another two fine goals ahead of new signing Alvaro Morata’s arrival.
Courtois added: Michy is a top striker, he showed that in Marseille and with the national team. He has shown with the few minutes he's had at Chelsea, he has always done well. I hope he can build on that. It's good that after scoring two against Fulham, he got another two against Arsenal.
“With Diego [Costa] scoring a lot of goals last season he didn't get a lot of chances.
“Maybe he didn't always do what the manager asked and he is very demanding when it comes to the strikers as well.
“He knows that Diego is leaving and he has a chance to prove himself. “He is training well, doing what the manager asks and is scoring goals. For him it's good. He needs to show that mentality every day in training and in every game.
“Obviously he knows that in pre-season he is the first option. Alvaro is coming in now but he has to adapt to our system, so maybe Michy has a slight advantage. He has to do well obviously.”
Chelsea face Bayern Munich here in Singapore on Tuesday followed by Inter Milan on Saturday as part of the pre-season International Champions Trophy.
Asked whether Batshuayi could even use the games to rival Morata for a first-choice place, Courtois went on: “Michy is a good striker so if he keeps scoring there is no reason to change.
“A new player always has to fit into the team. It's good that Morata is coming in obviously.
“He's been training with Real Madrid and maybe he will be able to play against Bayern or Inter. That's good because he needs to feel our way of playing because it's different to Real Madrid.”
Courtois, who faced Morata during his loan spell at Atletico Madrid, has backed the marksman to fill his boots in English football.
The Belgian said: “Yes I did [play against Morata] and I like him. He is a very good striker.
“He knows how to position himself well, has great technical ability. When he did get a chance to play last season, he scored. He will give us a lot of goals.”
Asked whether he could cope with the pressure of being Chelsea’s record buy, Courtois went on: “Yes. He came through the youth set up at Real Madrid, then went to Juventus and returned to Madrid again so he has already had a lot of pressure.
“If he can handle it there, score a lot of goals, I have no doubt he can do it here too.”