Arsenal will be hoping they can kickstart their title challenge as they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
Whilst the game has no bearing on the league, it’s always good to develop a winning habit before the season has begun. To do so by bringing a trophy home against a title rival will only feed the drive more.
It will be a tough test against Pep Guardiola’s side as Mikel Arteta looks to get one over his former boss in the game at Wembley.
A summer rebuild and over £200m of talent has come through the doors at the Emirates which will undoubtedly fuel ambition even more and there’s not better place to start than with the Community Shield.
What can we expect from Arsenal?
The Gunners have tried to maintain momentum from last season by spending big on three signings.
Declan Rice, defender Jurrien Timber and forward Kai Havertz were all signed in the early stages of the summer and took part in the club’s preseason tour of the United States.
Whilst there’s still work to do on the squad, it was obvious that the club made a point of trying to do their business early in an effort to try to kick on in 2023-24.
There have been few variations of formations over the summer, with a 4-2-3-1 likely to be implemented, but who features is anyone’s guess.
What’s the latest injury news?
Arteta was dealt a huge blow with Gabriel Jesus being ruled out for a couple of weeks after undergoing a procedure on his knee. Oleksandr Zinchecnko has missed most of pre-season with a calf issue and could miss out, but did return to training earlier this week.
Mohamed Elneny remains injured, with Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun and Sambi Lokonga all likely to miss out on the squad after suffering with injury issues in recent weeks.
Other than that, Arteta has a strong side at his disposal which will undoubtedly make matters interesting when the team is announced on Sunday.
