This weekend, Manchester City take on Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s treble winning side pipped Arsenal to the English Premier League last season on their way to a treble of trophies, beating Mikel Arteta’s three times in all competitions.
Both sides have seen players come and go this summer as the clubs look to reign supreme next season.
Here is what you should expect to see in Sunday’s curtain raiser.
Expect Goals
Across the sides’ two league meetings last season 10 goals were scored, with Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne the outstanding players across the two fixtures. Haaland scored twice and assisted two more, with De Bruyne scoring three and providing two himself.
Arsenal, through Bukayo Saka and Rob Holding, managed to get on the scoresheet for the Gunners in both games despite City’s dominance and will hope to repeat the trick this Sunday.
With new signings Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber getting good playing time in pre-season, Arteta will hope that they can provide the X-Factor that Arsenal will require to put City’s defence under pressure.
Over 2.5 goals in the match is currently priced at 1.62 here at Bet9ja.
City changes
Towards the end of last season, Manchester City’s team basically picked itself. Ederson in goal, with a back three of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji behind John Stones and Rodri in midfield. Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish started nearly every game, with goal machine Erling Haaland up front.
However, with Gundogan now at Barcelona and De Bruyne injured for the start of the season, Guardiola will be forced to switch up his lineup. Phil Foden will likely take Gundogan’s place in midfield, but De Bruyne is a harder player to replace.
It is possible that Julian Alvarez plays in behind Erling Haaland as a De Bruyne alternative, but it remains to be seen how this will affect the balance of the team.
Arteta’s selection options
Arsenal’s starting centre forward Gabriel Jesus is set to miss the match with a knee issue, and with Arteta experimenting with midfield and defensive combinations after Granit Xhaka’s departure and the signing of Jurrien Timber.
Eddie Nketiah performed well when called upon last season, and seems likely to start up front for Arsenal. Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard have all started in Xhaka’s old midfield spot, but in a tough game like this it seems like Rice may be trusted due to his extra defensive capabilities.
