Legendary Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that the Gunners will have to overcome a mental block if they are to beat Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Mikel Arteta’s men take on treble winners City at Wembley on Sunday, hoping to win the Shield for the second time in four years. They defeated Liverpool in the event in 2020 and are involved in Sunday’s game having finished runners-up to City in the Premier League last term.
They had led the way for much of the campaign, before a disastrous run of results in the final two months. Two of their defeats in that time were at the hands of City, losing 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium, before being smashed 4-1 in the reverse fixture.
The Gunners’ history when taking on Pep Guardiola’s side has now led Wenger to sound a warning about their mental state. He insisted it is something they will have to overcome to win at Wembley.
The Frenchman took charge of one of the teams at the Game4Ukraine on Saturday and was invited up to the studio pre-match. He said of the Community Shield: “Mentally it’s an important game for arsenal. To beat City in the first game. It’s a big hurdle for them in their head.”
While Wenger is concerned that Arsenal could be overwhelmed by the challenge of facing City, Arteta does not share them. He insisted that his side are more than capable of defeating the champions.
“Very excited to play a final and have the opportunity to win a trophy against a team that is the team to beat. They were the best team in Europe last season, and we know what the standards and are how we need to win the game, but we’re very excited,” he said.
“This is what we want, to be on every front fighting for trophies, and being as a club, in every front to try and be the best. We have to prove that what we did last year was something.
“We have to be better and that comes every day with trying to be better, making better decisions and playing better, and deserving to win the game. In the end, the outcome will come by itself.
“They deserved to win the game [the 4-1 defeat] without a question of a doubt, so for us to win the trophy on Sunday we’re going to have to be much, much better than we were then, that’s for sure.”
Arteta will have to deal with the absence of star striker Gabriel Jesus though. The Brazilian has undergone minor knee surgery and has been ruled out for several weeks, with Oleksandr Zinchenko also a heavy doubt.
City meanwhile are likely to be without star man Kevin de Bruyne, who is still recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered in the Champions League final.
