Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield in the final match before the Premier League begins next week against Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal and Liverpool takes to the knee before the FA Community Shield final at Wembley Stadium on August 29, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield in the final match before the Premier League begins next week against Nottingham Forest.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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?
Get all the build-up, match commentary and reaction from Tom Canton who is at Wembley for today’s game.
65TOM CANTON
Corner – Arsenal
Timber and Rodri come together but the referee has given a corner.
And another one.
Martinelli kicks it straight out.
17:25TOM CANTON
Man City substitutions
Haaland and Kovacic are off.
Palmer and De Bruyne are on.
17:25TOM CANTON
High, wide and not very handsome
Declan Rice has fired a shot way over.
62TOM CANTON
What a shame
Some real good work from the boys.
Ben White played in but his cross is blocked back off him.
17:21TOM CANTON
Beyond everyone
Martinelli’s free-kick though is beyond everyone and out for a throw-in.
17:20TOM CANTON
Dias on Saka
The Portuguese defender gets a stamp on Saka’s foot.
17:19TOM CANTON
Man City substitution
Phil Foden is on for Jack Grealish.
17:13TOM CANTON
Odegaard down
The Norwegian is receiving treatment.
Substitutes out to warm up.
He looks okay to continue.
52TOM CANTON
Corner – Man City
Walker getting far more joy this half and is released down the right. Timber blocks out the cross.
17:12TOM CANTON
Havertz unlucky
Arsenal break with Odegaard and Saka, the Norwegian feeds Havertz but he’s easily dispossessed.
17:06TOM CANTON
The second half kicks off
Here we go!
No extra time it is worth saying.
16:50TOM CANTON
Half time
A competitive first half where the Gunners had the biggest chance through Kai Havertz. No goals though at this stage.
16:47TOM CANTON
Three added minutes
Will there be another chance?
16:46TOM CANTON
Close – Man City
Alvarez loses Martinelli and tries a low cross. However Saloiba brilliant slides in to clear the ball away.
16:44TOM CANTON
Very close – Rodri
Could have been Sporting all over again for Ramsdale. The Spaniard tries one from the half way line and it is just over.
40TOM CANTON
HUGE CHANCE – Arsenal
Kai Havertz has the best chance of the game. Saka beats his man down the right and fires the ball into the middle for the German. His shot though lacks the power and Ortega saves.
16:38TOM CANTON
Havertz’s chance
Kai Havertz of Arsenal takes a shot on goal ahead of John Stones of Manchester City and Kyle Walker of Manchester City during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium(Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
36TOM CANTON
Wide – Saka
Arsenal’s winger strikes past Akanji to cut inside. His strike though cannot get the purchase and fires wide.
34TOM CANTON
Another corner
Brilliant work by Odegaard as Arsenal have a spell of possession. Another corner comes from Martinelli forcing a play down the left.
Sadly it goes straight out of play.
16:33TOM CANTON
Corner – Arsenal
Ortega makes a mess of the pass and it is a cheap Arsenal corner.
16:32TOM CANTON
Yellow – Alvarez
For kicking the ball away, a nudge. Of all the cards, that seemed the harshest.
16:32TOM CANTON
Grealish shoves down White
These two have a battle going. Still no card though.
27TOM CANTON
Yellow – Havertz
Havertz commits a professional foul and gets the yellow. The Arsenal crowd are incensed.
16:26TOM CANTON
So close – Arsenal
Ben White gets in behind for Arsenal’s best chance.
He finds Havertz who tries his luck but it’s saved. Martinellin follows up but calls for the handball are nothing doing.
16:25TOM CANTON
Arsenal fans baying for a card
But it just won’t come…
Haaland this time on Partey. Silva has had a good few nips but nothing doing too.
21TOM CANTON
Havertz does well
Arsenal still going long but Havertz wins this one and brings it down. Spreading it wide to Martinelli who has a run but City eventually cut it out well again.
16:19TOM CANTON
Wide again
Alvarez has another chance struck wide of Ramsdale’s right post.
16:18TOM CANTON
Arteta booked
The Arsenal manager sees yellow as well.
16:18TOM CANTON
Kai Havertz has struck a lonely figure up top so far
Kai Havertz of Arsenal looks on during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
14TOM CANTON
Close – Man City
Rodri strikes from range is deflected out from a corner.
10TOM CANTON
Akanji shows Saka out
Good chance for Saka to run at the full back. It looked tight and Akanji did indeed get the last touch but a goal kick is given.
10TOM CANTON
Partey – Yellow
Immediate dissent yellow card for Partey.
06TOM CANTON
White clears
City come forward down the left and Akanji crosses. White though gets a good head on it and eventually the Gunners clear.
04TOM CANTON
City passing through
Man City controlling possession and Arsenal trying to get a foot in. Akanji brings the ball out and is brought down by Odegaard.
01TOM CANTON
Frenetic start
Arsenal and City jossling in the midfield and Alvarez wins an early free-kick.
00TOM CANTON
Kick-off
Here we go!
15:59TOM CANTON
Boos for Rice
Man City crowd a little salty.
15:51TOM CANTON
Arsenal drowning out Blue Moon
The Arsenal fans really making their voices heard in here today.
15:49TOM CANTON
10 minutes until kick-off!
We’re very close now.
Big questions surrounding how Kai Havertz will cope in today’s game.
15:29TOM CANTON
View from the press box
Not a bad view at all is it?
15:22TOM CANTON
Captain’s briefing
Martin Odegaard and Kyle Walker meet Stuart Attwell ahead of the game.
Team captains, Martin Odegaard of Arsenal and Kyle Walker of Manchester City interact with Referee, Stuart Atwell prior to The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium(Image: Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
15:13TOM CANTON
Jorginho injured
The Italian international misses today’s squad with a slight muscle issue.
15:06TOM CANTON
Man City team announced
Starting XI: Ortega; Walker, Dias, Stones, Akanji, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Bernardo, Grealish, Alvarez, Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Phillips, Laporte, De Bruyne, Gomez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis, McAtee
15:03TOM CANTON
Arsenal team confirmed
Arsenal starting X: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Kiwior, Holding, Tomiyasu, Trossard, Vieira
More players arriving
Timber, Hein and Martin Odegaard are here.
Thomas Partey and team mates of Arsenal arrive at the stadium prior to The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium
Will Arsenal lift the Community Shield again like they did back in 2020? This time, with fans in the ground too.
Big day for this tro
Declan Rice, Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka are all potential starters for Arsenal today.
Arsenal kick off their 2023/24 campaign with the chance to win a trophy as they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield. The clash will take place at Wembley Stadium and is set commence at 4pm with one team aiming to give themselves the perfect platform to build from ahead of the Premier League season starting next weekend.
The Gunners drew their final pre-season friendly against AS Monaco but were able to retain the Emirates Cup by beating the French club on penalties. However, the biggest news coming out of the game was the confirmation of a knee injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus with Mikel Arteta revealing a possible return timeline after the friendly.
“Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning,” Arteta said when asked about Jesus. “He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused h
im some issues so they had to go in. He’s going to be out for a few weeks.” Oleksandr Zinchenko also missed the game with a calf issue but he played 11 minutes in the Game4Ukraine on Saturday and delivered a fitness update after the match.