Manchester City and Arsenal Gear up for Community Shield

This Sunday marks the ceremonial start to a new season of English football at Wembley Stadium. As tradition ordains, the very first match of top flight action is the Community Shield, which is supposed to pit the Premier League title defenders against the most recent FA Cup winners.

Seeing as Manchester City won both last season, the rules say that the game is to be played between the league winners and runners-up, that being Arsenal.

Check out our Premier Leagues odds for all the action starting next Friday, August 11.

Manchester City and Arsenal Renew Hostilities at Community Shield

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta, once a student under City coach Pep Guardiola, is still looking for success against his former boss. Arsenal had three chances to overcome Manchester City last season, all within a few months. City bounced them out of the FA Cup in January, then pounded them into submission twice in league action, eventually leapfrogging over their rivals to capture a third consecutive domestic title.

Both clubs have undergone roster changes, as is often the case in top-flight football. Money talks, pastures appear greener elsewhere, and clubs continuously find wiggle room for that extra edge.

In the case of City, Ilkay Gundogan finally left for Barcelona. Midfielder Mateo Kovacic arrives from Chelsea, the latter having offloaded tons of talent to re-structure its organization. It’s said that Kalvin Phillips could be taking on a bigger role this season. With players like Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, and Jack Grealish leading the charge, the club didn’t need to change too much.

Not so with Arsenal, who received a big serving of humble pie come April and May when they started to lose points in the table. Centre-back Jurrien Timber joins from Ajax and is expected to bolster a defence that looked shaky once injuries took their toll. Speaking of the Chelsea exodus, Kai Havertz is now a part of the Arsenal attacking midfield. But of course, the big signing was West Ham holding midfielder Declan Rice.

Generally, not much is made of what happens in the Community Shield. Need readers be reminded that a year ago people chuckled at Erling Haaland’s missed scoring opportunities? Who laughed last in May and June? Exactly. Nevertheless, it serves as a ceremonial start to the campaign with some pomp and circumstances, a nice shiny silver plate to hoist, and a chance to test the waters with those offseason signings.