STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Sun: Arsenal v Manchester City

Arsenal and Manchester City lift the curtain on a new season when they go head-to-head at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Sunday afternoon, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

For Arsenal, it’s a chance to inject some early impetus into their title defence while for most of us, it’s a first glimpse at a new-look City, with Enzo Maresca in the dugout.

Maresca’s teams are built around an aggressive pressing game and an emphasis on possession, making the Community Shield his first real opportunity to judge how quickly City’s players have adapted to his approach during pre-season.

Erling Haaland has not been back with the squad very long but is expected to lead the line once again and his battle with old foe Gabriel Magalhães will doubtless not only be gripping viewing, but also pivotal to the outcome of the game.

Arsenal v Manchester City
FA Community Shield – Wembley Stadium
KO 15:00, Live on TNT Sports

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
APR 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal
MAR 2026 LEAGUE CUP Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City
SEP 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City
FEB 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 5-1 Manchester City
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal

ARSENAL
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 2-3 Dortmund
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 1-3 Betis
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Girona 1-4 Arsenal
MAY 2026 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL PSG 1-1 Arsenal (PSG win on Penalties)
MAY 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal

MANCHESTER CITY
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Manchester City 3-1 Atletico Madrid
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY K-League Stars 1-3 Manchester City
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Manchester City 1-1 Inter Milan
MAY 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 1-2 Aston Villa
MAY 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Bournemouth 1-1 Manchester City

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Arsenal have strengthened from a position of power with the signing of Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle, giving them great depth to the midfield unit. That potentially enables Mikel Arteta to be more conservative with his use of Declan Rice, who played more minutes than any other outfield player last season and who looked totally cooked by the end of the World Cup.

It’s surely going to take time for Rice and other big names that went deep in the World Cup to get back up to speed, while the loss of William Saliba to that peerless defensive unit shouldn’t be understated.

Arsenal haven’t exactly pulled up any trees in pre-season, losing to both Dortmund and Betis whilst drawing with Como, so this looks a decent opportunity for Manchester City to repeat their League Cup Final defeat of their rivals.

With that in mind, the 10/11 about City lifting the Community Shield for an 8th time with starsports.bet, whether that be in 90 minutes or after penalties, looks the safest option in a very difficult game for punters to get any sort of handle on.

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