Enzo Maresca has dismissed suggestions the Community Shield is a glorified friendly and is targeting silverware in his first game in charge when FA Cup winners Manchester City take on Premier League champions Arsenal on Sunday.
Maresca succeeded Pep Guardiola in the City hotseat over the summer and is already planning to follow in the Spaniard’s footsteps by landing a domestic cup.
“For me personally it is a trophy,” Maresca explained in his pre-match press conference.
“When trophies and a final are there, you always try to win the game. So, no friendly game at all. It’s a trophy that we are going to try our best to win, to win the first trophy.”
Arsenal will make the trip down the M4 to Cardiff in confident mood and Maresca is wary of the Gunners’ quality under Mikel Arteta.
He added: “Arsenal have shown in the last two, three, four, five years that they have been always there. It’s a fantastic team, well managed by Mikel. Last year they won the Premier League, they showed how good they are in this moment. But at the same time, we are City and we are going to try to close the gap and try to compete again.”
Both clubs have had mixed pre-season campaigns without several key players who are slowly returning from post-World Cup breaks.
They have also strengthened with City breaking their transfer record to sign midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest while Arsenal snapped up former Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes.
Guimaraes should start with Arteta also talking up the occasion.
“It is a trophy, it is a trophy that we can have,” he said.
“We won [a trophy] last year through the Premier League. You can tell how hungry the players are which is a good sign.”
Team News for Arsenal v Manchester City
Arsenal will be without William Saliba, who is facing an extended spell out after aggravating a long-term back injury during France’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain. Jurrien Timber also remains sidelined with a groin problem and is understood to still be some weeks from a return, though Arteta has described his progress as going “really well”.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are back in training following the World Cup but this game will come too soon for them to be a part of the starting XI.
City wing-back Rayan Aït-Nouri has recovered from a minor pre-season issue and is available while Maresca said star striker Erling Haaland was “fine” despite coming off before the end of a recent training session. Haaland is unlikely to start while Savinho and Rodri are set to miss out through injury.
Anderson will probably be named among the substitutes, alongside Haaland.
Expected line-ups for Arsenal v Manchester City
Arsenal: Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Eze, Tzolis, Gyokeres
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Kovacic, Gonzalez; Semenyo, Foden, Doku; Marmoush
How to watch Arsenal v Manchester City: TV and online streams
Arsenal versus Manchester City kicks off at 3pm UK time on Sunday. It is being shown on TNT Sports and can be streamed via the HBO Max app.
Stats for Arsenal versus Manchester City
- Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has won all four of his Community Shield matches (two as a player, two as a manager)
- Only Manchester United (21) have won this trophy more than Arsenal (17)
- Arsenal have won this fixture on the last five times they have taken part
- Arsenal have won all three of their Community Shield matches against City, beating them 4-0 in 1934, 3-0 in 2014 and, most recently, 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2023.
- On the past 10 occasions the game has been between the league champions and the FA Cup winners, the FA Cup holders have won eight times.
Prediction for Arsenal v Manchester City
A difficult one to call with both sides likely to be without key players.
Arsenal have had a mixed pre-season and we think City might just have the edge in this one, although it is unlikely to count for much when the real action gets underway next weekend.
Prediction: Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
