The season in England will officially open when Stuart Attwell kicks off the Manchester City arsenal at Wembley Stadium. The Community Shield, the first title of the course, is agreed between the “citizens”.Premier League and FA Cup champions, and the “Gunners”, who were left with the second division box.
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta face off again, each with their own vengeance. ANDThe Catalan wants to reclaim the trophy Liverpool kept last seasonsquarely against them, while Arteta yearns for a “vendetta” for the premier who has escaped them and been captured by the Mancunians.
As a matter of fact, City beat Arsenal every time last season, in both the Premier League and the cups. They played once for the FA Cup and it was a 1-0 win. In the league there were victories 3-1 at Emirates and 4-1 at Etihad, both setting the course for the title ‘snatched from’ the Londoners. Therefore, for some Gunners who can officially brag about their signings, the revalidation is a total endorsement.
In the starting XI Arteta plans to use two of his new signings: Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice. The first, a Dutchman from Ajax in exchange for €40m, is the one picked for Tomiyasu’s lane and will move to the left wing if Zinchenko doesn’t recover 100%.
For his part, Declan is the big bet of the summer, coming to the Emirates Stadium for €116m. The England pivot is set to take charge of Arsenal this year. The large investment justifies this. Kai Havertz, this summer’s other big signing, will be awaiting his place on the bench. The German has performed well in both midfield and attack and could be a good option after the injury that will force Gabriel Jesús to miss the start of the season.
On the City side, Mateo Kovacic will start in midfield. The Croat, who came from Chelsea, is the natural replacement for a Gündogan living his present as a Barça player. The “citizen” claim is to win the trophy, Pep announced at a conference The press discusses today’s clash at Wembley Stadium.
“Usually when you win the titles that we’ve won you get the opportunity to play for more: the Community Shield, Seville next week and Saudi Arabia in the winter.” It will be a good opportunity. Of course we will try& rdquor ;, commented the Catalan.
However, he regretted the calendar: “We know the situation we are in right now. We finished two weeks after Arsenal and started two weeks after them. We are not doing well. It’s a final and hopefully our mentality will help us stay competitive.”
LIKELY ALIGNMENTS:
Arsenal: Ramsdale; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu; Odegaard, Rice, Partey; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Silva, Kovacic, Foden, Grealish; Haaland
Hour: five o’clock.
