Arsenal and Manchester City meet at Wembley Stadium on Sunday as the Community Shield lifts the curtain on the 2023-24 season.
Typically, the Community Shield is contested between the reining Premier League champions and the FA Cup holders.
However, given that Man City won both the Premier League and FA Cup last season, the league runners-up – Arsenal – will do battle with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Not only did Man City win the Premier League and FA Cup last term, but they also won the UEFA Champions League, securing a famous treble.
The Cityzens lost just five of their 38 league outings in 2022-23, picking up 28 wins and five draws along the way. Better still, they scored a whopping 94 goals in the process.
Guardiola’s men have played three pre-season friendlies in the lead-up to the new campaign, defeating Yokohoma F. Marinos and Bayern Munich before losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid last time out.
It is also worth noting that Man City have won two of the past five Community Shields, triumphing in 2018 and 2019.
Arsenal, on the other hand, finished five points behind City in the Premier League last season, falling short after leading for much of the campaign.
The Gunners looked destined to clinch the title as they continued to win throughout the campaign, but they eventually surrendered to Man City.
Mikel Arteta’s side have played six pre-season friendlies, recording two wins, two draws and one defeat before losing on penalties to Monaco last time out.
Last month, Arsenal thrashed the MLS All-Stars 5-0 before defeating Barcelona 5-3, so they will fancy their chances of triumphing on Sunday.
Head-to-head: Man City have won each of their last eight meetings with Arsenal across all competitions, scoring 21 goals while conceding just four.
It is worth remembering, however, that Arsenal defeated Man City 3-0 in the 2014 Community Shield, although a lot has changed since then.
Team news: Manchester City are expected to be without the injured duo of Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake this weekend.
As for Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Albert Sambi Lokonga are all injured, while Reiss Nelson and Folarin Balogun are both doubts for Sunday.
Man City overtook Arsenal to snatch the Premier League title last season. Accordingly, the Gunners will be out for revenge this time around.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Arsenal will get the better of Manchester City at Wembley, kicking off their 2023-24 campaign in style.