Preview: Arsenal vs. Man City In The Community Shield - prediction, team news, lineups.

Arsenal get set to challenge Manchester City in the FA Community Shield on Sunday, August 5, in what is said to be an early tug of war between the top two Premier League teams last season.

This will be the third Community Shield meeting between the two sides, and Arsenal have won the previous two, a 4-0 victory at Highbury in 1934 and 3-0 win at Wembley in 2014.

The Gunners almost won the Premier League title last season, having stayed top of the table for at least 240 days. It is the most time a team has spent at the summit and didn’t manage to win the trophy.

The Cityzens pipped the Gunners in the final weeks of the season to retain the title for a third consecutive time.

This means that Pep Guardiola side would be aiming to do what nobody has achieved in Premier League history which is to win the title for four years in a row.

Arsenal were able to quietly cheer the consolation prize of a place in the Community Shield courtesy of their second-placed finish in the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.

The game which is to be played at the Wembley stadium on Sunday afternoon, will be the last chance to see the both teams in action before the new Premier League season kicks off again in earnest.

The Gunners have a poor history against Man City, winning just once since Guardiola took charge in the summer of 2016. However, Mikel Arteta's side can take confidence from their superb and strong record at Wembley Stadium.

Across their previous 15 trips to the so-called home of football, Arsenal have lost just twice - although, one of those defeats was against City in the 2018 League Cup final.

They have won the Community Shield on the last four occasions they've participated in it since losing 2-1 against Chelsea in 2005. The last time they failed to win the Shield at Wembley was in 1993 after losing to Man United via penalties.

The North London club have a n impressive history in this competition, being the second-most successful side, lifting the trophy a total of 16 times since 1930, with only Manchester United winning it more times (21).

Arsenal's last success in the Community Shield came three years ago courtesy of a penalty shootout against Liverpool following a 1-1 draw, when Arteta climbed the famous steps to lift the silverware.

No current Arsenal player has scored for us at Wembley – our last five goals at the ground were all netted by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

What To Expect:

Arsenal have already added one more honour to their cabinet this summer, defending the friendly Emirates Cup crown on Wednesday courtesy of a penalty-shootout win over Ligue 1 powerhouses Monaco, who held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw before Aaron Ramsdale kept out Takumi Minamino's 12-yard attempt.

Also putting five goals past Barcelona and the MLS All-Stars either side of a 2-0 defeat to Man United, which could mainly be attributed to individual errors.

Manager Mikel Arteta has gone about his transfer business with vim, spending over £200m to sign Jurrien Timber (£40m), forward Kai Havertz (£67.5m) and midfielder Declan Rice (£100m), before his squad flew out for the preseason tour of America.

Arteta said he understands the challenge that awaits his team as they begin a new season against treble winners Man City in the Community Shield.

The 41-year-old Spaniard, served as assistant to Pep Guardiola at City from 2016-2019 before taking the reins at the north London club and leading them to the FA Cup trophy in his first season in charge.

Since then, he has helped Arsenal qualify for the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign. Arteta said he wants his team to build on the momentum from last season.

"Very excited to play a final and have the opportunity to win a trophy, we are playing against the team to beat," Arteta said.

"They were the best team in Europe last season, and we know what the standards and are how we need to win the game.

"This is what we want, fighting for every trophy. We have to prove that. What we did last year was not enough to win the big trophy, and we have to be better.

"We have to try and maintain the level and improve it for the fans."

Man City on the other hand, have lost their last two Community Shield matches, a 1-0 defeat against Leicester City in 2021 and 3-1 loss to Liverpool last year. The only team to lose the match in three consecutive years are Man United, who lost four in a row between 1998 and 2001.

On the back of their historic treble win in the 2022-23 season, Man City embarked on a pre-season friendly tour of Japan and South Korea, beating City Football Group affiliate Yokohama F. Marinos 5-3 having been 2-0 behind.

Guardiola's reunion with old employers Bayern Munich was also a joyous affair for the Catalonian, who masterminded a 2-1 win over the Bundesliga champions in Tokyo, courtesy of a late Aymeric Laporte goal.

Four days later, his side came unstuck against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid in  South Korea at the end of July.

Memphis Depay and Yannick Carrasco did the damage before Ruben Dias's 85th-minute consolation to make it a 2-1 defeat.

Man City have an ample time to reflect on that beating as they go in search of a seventh Community Shield title, but they have lost the last two editions of the Super Cup clash to Leicester City and Liverpool respectively.

It does appear that Guardiola’s men are weaker than they were two months ago in Istanbul. Captain Ilkay Gundogan has departed the Etihad as a free agent to Barcelona, while Riyad Mahrez has been lured by the money in Saudi Arabia. Only Mateo Kovacic has joined from Chelsea, but has now been joined by Croatia team-mate Josko Gvardiol.

With the recent addition of defender Gvardiol who joined from RB Leipzig for £77m, City will have six senior central defenders once the 21-year-old arrives, but Guardiola said that was not a problem given the demands of the season.

Guardiola believes there will be an increased number of sides challenging for major honours in the coming season.

The 52-year-old name-checked both Arsenal and Newcastle as two teams who he believes have strengthened their starting XIs with summer signings. 

"There is not one or two teams but a lot of teams who will fight for everything. The challenge is massive for us. Mentally, how we can grow as a team and football-wise, the challenge is there... Guardiola said.

"How starving are we, how is our desire to defend what we won? We will see during a process of 11 months during the lower moments. I think we will have more than ever, so it is how we overcome them.

"Arsenal did not buy players to make the squad bigger, they buy starting XI players. Newcastle have done it. Liverpool a bit less but with Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino gone they will go to the market again. And Manchester United do it again.

"It is normal. Every season the teams want to do better."

Team news:

Arsenal will be without Gabriel Jesus for the next couple of weeks after Mikel announced he underwent a small procedure on his knee.

The Brazil international went under the knife on Wednesday after experiencing irritation following a more serious operation to treat an injury suffered at the World Cup.

Jesus had spent three months on the sidelines recovering during last season as the Gunners fell short in their Premier League title charge.

While another former City old boy in Oleksandr Zinchenko could also be missing after sitting out all of pre-season so far with a calf issue, but has been back in training this week.

Mohamed Elneny continues to recover from his long-term knee injury, while Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun and Sambi Lokonga have also had issues that have prevented them from being selected in recent weeks.

Man City's Kevin de Bruyne has not played a minute during pre-season so far as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained in the Champions League final early June, and is not expected to return until at least the European Super Cup on 16 August.

Nathan Ake is City’s other doubt after he sat out the Atletico Madrid game last week as a precaution, but is expected to be fit.

Arsenal predicted XI: 

Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli.

Man City predicted XI:

Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Rodri, Mateo Kovacic; Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland.

Match Officials:

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Assistants: Tim Wood and Dan Robathan

Fourth official: Steve Meredith

VAR: Michael Salisbury

Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.