Arsenal come off the back of two draws, two wins and a loss across five matches this summer, after Mikel Arteta has begun to learn how to rotate what is now a very competitively deep squad. Manchester City meanwhile beat Yokohama F Marinos despite going 2-0 down, managed a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich but lost with the same scoreline to Atletico Madrid.
This will give viewers the best look at the best two teams in the country from last season in a game which Mikel Arteta will want to take very seriously. Although Liverpool beat City in last summer’s Community Shield, they went on to finish fifth meanwhile their opponents won the treble highlighting how little influence this game can end up having on the season.
At the same time, a win for Arsenal would surely provide quite the confidence boost and early build of momentum that perhaps City are in far less need of considering their success in 2023. Having players like Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber playing in these games is sure to be of great benefit to their continuing integration into the side.
Arteta has not beaten Pep Guardiola since the sides last met at Wembley Stadium in the 2020 FA Cup semi-final which the Gunners won 2-0 thanks to a double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. With Gabriel Jesus absent through injury, who will step up for Arsenal today?
