Arsenal and Manchester City will get their respective 2026/27 campaigns underway when they meet at the Principality Stadium on Sunday in the Community Shield, with both teams battling to secure the first available silverware of the season.
Arsenal vs Manchester City
Sunday 16 August, 15:00
Principality Stadium
Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to lift the English Premier League trophy in 2025/26, with Mikel Arteta’s side eventually finishing seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City at the top of the standings.
Despite the success, Arsenal ended the campaign on a miserable note, devastatingly losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.
Eager to bounce back from that disappointment, Arsenal head into the new campaign hoping to retain their title and once again challenge for their first-ever Champions League trophy, but they have endured a challenging pre-season in preparation for the new campaign.
The Gunners have lost two and won one of their four pre-season matches, alongside a 1-1 draw with Como last time out, leaving Arteta’s side in far from ideal form as they head into this first competitive match of the new term.
However, Arsenal will be strengthened by the return of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and several others who have not featured throughout pre-season due to their involvement at the World Cup, and they will be looking to secure a statement victory and lift the first silverware of the season.
Manchester City, meanwhile, head into Sunday’s game with an unusual air of uncertainty surrounding them, with Enzo Maresca set to take charge of his first competitive match as manager since the departure of long-standing boss Pep Guardiola.
Maresca’s side have won each of their last two friendlies ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield encounter, including an impressive and hard-fought 3-1 victory against Atletico Madrid in their last outing.
The Italian boss will be looking for his side to continue that form on Sunday and pick up another win, with the Citizens looking to lay a marker down ahead of a season where they will be hoping to compete for the title.
Team News
Arsenal will remain without William Saliba and Jurrien Timber due to ongoing injury issues, but they should be strengthened by the return of several players following the conclusion of their extended breaks after the World Cup.
Rice and Saka, among others, will be back available, but they are unlikely to start after having no involvement during pre-season, meaning a midfield of Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard and new signing Bruno Guimaraes could feature.
In attack, new signing Christos Tzolis could start on the left wing, while youngster Max Dowman may start on the right with Viktor Gyokeres through the middle.
Meanwhile, Manchester City will be without Savinho and Tijjani Reijnders, who are linked with moves away from the club, Rodri and Jack Grealish due to injuries and fitness issues.
Erling Haaland has not featured during pre-season after his long stay at the World Cup with Norway, but the striker is likely to immediately come into the starting team, with Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo providing support in attack.
Arsenal Predicted XI: Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes; Dowman, Odegaard, Tzolis; Gyokeres
Manchester City Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Kovacic, Gonzalez; Doku, Foden, Semenyo; Haaland
Bet9ja Tips
Arsenal are the slight favourites heading into this fixture, especially as the Citizens remain a somewhat unknown quantity under new manager Maresca.
The Gunners, in comparison, remain under the guidance of Arteta and should produce a familiar performance, making it hard for Manchester City to break them down while offering plenty of attacking threat.
Consequently, we believe Arsenal will frustrate Manchester City throughout the match and ultimately secure the victory, and you can get odds of Arsenal winning inside 90 minutes of 2.66 – 5MWCYFM.
In addition, Tzolis has shown his attacking quality throughout pre-season, scoring one and assisting two goals for Arsenal in four appearances, and we are backing the forward to give Manchester City’s defence a difficult afternoon.
With that in mind, we believe the Greek winger will get on the scoresheet on his competitive debut for Arsenal, and you can get odds of Tzolis to score of 4.00 with Bet9ja – 5MWD3VL.
Bet9ja Odds (at time of writing): Arsenal win: 2.66, Draw: 3.20, Manchester City win: 2.80 (inside 90 minutes)
