Arsenal will look to cement their status as the best team in England this afternoon when they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield.
The two clubs fought it out for the Premier League title last season with Mikel Arteta’s men getting over the line, finishing seven points ahead of City.
City won the FA Cup, in addition to the EFL Cup, to secure their place in the season curtain-raiser and it will be interesting to watch their evolution under new coach Enzo Maresca, who succeeded Pep Guardiola over the summer.
Both teams have new men on show for a game that is being staged in Cardiff, and not its traditional home of Wembley.
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS
Arsenal are without William Saliba, who is facing an extended spell out after aggravating a long-term back injury during France’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain. Jurrien Timber also remains sidelined with a groin problem and is understood to still be some weeks from a return, though Arteta has described his progress as going “really well”.
Bruno Guimaraes starts in midfield, as does Kai Havertz in attack. Bukayo Saka is on the bench, alongside Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres.
Arsenal: Raya; White, Gabriel, Mosquera, Calafiori; Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Madueke, Tzolis, Havertz
Arsenal Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Merino, Rice, Eze, Dowman, Saka, Gyokeres
MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS
Savinho and Rodri miss out through injury.
Record signing Elliot Anderson starts in midfield while Erling Haaland leads the line.
Jack Grealish is among the City substitutes.
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias (C), Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic, Anderson, Foden; Semenyo, Haaland, Doku
Manchester City Substitutes: Rulli, Guehi, Marmoush, Cherki, Gonzalez, Grealish, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Lewis
How to watch Arsenal v Manchester City: TV and online streams
Arsenal versus Manchester City kicks off at 3pm UK time on Sunday. It is being shown on TNT Sports and can be streamed via the HBO Max app.
Stats for Arsenal versus Manchester City
- Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has won all four of his Community Shield matches (two as a player, two as a manager)
- Only Manchester United (21) have won this trophy more than Arsenal (17)
- Arsenal have won this fixture on the last five times they have taken part
- Arsenal have won all three of their Community Shield matches against City, beating them 4-0 in 1934, 3-0 in 2014 and, most recently, 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2023.
- On the past 10 occasions the game has been between the league champions and the FA Cup winners, the FA Cup holders have won eight times.
