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The Community Shield is the traditional curtain raiser ahead of the new Premier League season and this year’s event sees Manchester City, fresh from their Champions League success facing PL runners-up Arsenal at Wembley. The match kicks off at 3pm UK time.
Man City
Man City looked unstoppable last season as they overhauled Arsenal to clinch the Premier League title. Pep’s men added further silverware to their well-decorated trophy cabinet by clinched the FA Cup and squeezing past Inter in the Champions League final. It was an unprecedented campaign for the Citizens, whose only blot on their copybook was a League Cup defeat to Southampton.
Match has ended
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It’s been a relatively quiet transfer for Pep’s outfit, although the arrival of Mateo Kovacic could be an astute bit of business. Josko Gvardiol appears to be on his way to the club, however, the sales of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan give the club less depth in midfield.
Kevin de Bruyne’s injury in the UCL final has caused the Belgian to miss the entirety of pre-season and he is unlikely to be risked here. Nathan Ake picked up a knock against Atletico, however, he should recover in time to play some part in this contest.
City are accustomed to playing in the Community Shield, however, they’ve failed to win in their last two appearances and required penalties to overcome Liverpool in 2019.
With only three pre-season friendlies under their belt, Pep is likely to view this game as a bonus warm-up match and will look at this match as a good chance to tweak his XI ahead of their seasonal opener against Burnley.
Arsenal
The Gunners enjoyed a terrific 2022-23 season, however, they weren’t able to complete the job and had to settle for second place. Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta’s side can look forward to Champions League football this campaign and they will have learnt plenty of lessons from last year’s exploits.
William Saliba’s injury didn’t help matters last season and they were also missing former Man City striker Gabriel Jesus for a large chunk of the campaign. The Brazilian has picked up yet another niggle and will not feature until mid-August.
Arsenal’s transfer business has been quietly impressive and the high-profile addition of Declan Rice should give them some much-needed oomph in midfield. The former West Ham man is joined by Jurrien Timber and Chelsea flop Kai Havertz.
The Gunners have enjoyed plenty of Community Shield appearances and they have a pretty decent record in the curtain raiser. They required penalties to see off Liverpool in 2020 and also beat Chelsea in a shootout three years earlier. They also beat today’s opponents back in 2014.
Head to Head
Man City put in one of their best performances of the campaign as they blitzed their way past the Gunners at the end of April. Last season’s two league meetings ended 7-2 on aggregate to Man City and Pep’s men were also victorious in the FA Cup at the end of January.
Arsenal’s last victory in this fixture came in July 2020 with the Gunners winning 2-0 in front of an empty Emirates stadium
Key Betting Stats
- Only one of the last six Community Shields has finished with three or more goals after 90 minutes.
- Three of the last six Community Shields have been settled by penalties.
- Arsenal’s last Community Shield defeat came in 2005.
- City have won 21 of their last 40 meetings with Arsenal
- City failed to win their last two matches of the 2022-23 PL season, however, they had already secured the title by that stage of the campaign.
- Erling Haaland scored the final goal of the match in both PL meetings with Arsenal last season
Match Prediction
City might be a little undercooked for this match and they have played two fewer friendlies than Arsenal. The Gunners are shaping up nicely and they do have a good record in this traditional curtain raiser. Without KDB, City might just be edged out.
Winning Combo
Arsenal to Win or Draw (Double Chance) and Under 3.5 Goals
Odds – 7/4 with Betfair Bet Builder
Best Bookmaker
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