The FA Community Shield 2023 is scheduled for Sunday 1800hrs EAT, with Manchester City set to take on Arsenal in the contest. The current premier league champions are squaring out with Arsenal, who finished second. This duel will bring back the shades of last season’s rivalry that almost went to the season’s final day. Man City will again aim to establish their dominance over the Gunners. The London-based club, however, will be seeking redemption, with this match coming at a perfect time before the season kicks off.
A perfect opener to the new PL season
Several football fans have appreciated that this match is an ideal curtain-raiser to the new EPL season. It was a joy to witness the eyeball-to-eyeball competition between Arteta and Pep last season, thus, any encounter between these two will definitely be riveting. The last three matches proved crucial in deciding the winner, with the Citizens carrying the day.
The Arsenal fraternity had to cope with a second-place finish that only a handful had predicted at the beginning of the season. Therefore, they felt they could have prevented the Manchester City EPL three-peat. Manchester City inflicted another loss on Arsenal a few weeks before the end of the season. The Gunners are, therefore, super excited as they could take this chance to inflict defeat on the Manchester Blue side.
Head-to-head meetings
The recent head-to-head meetings have favored Manchester City highly. The Pep Guardiola boys have floored Arsenal in their last five meetings. In one of them, they dominantly beat Arsenal by five goals. Manchester City have been imperious in most of these games showing the gap in quality between the two sides.
Some matches have ended with a one-goal difference between the teams. These matches were when the Gunners took the Citizens head-on and produced a worthy performance. This weekend, such a match is expected, with both clubs seemingly equal to the task. Wembley will undoubtedly be hosting a cracker of a game.
Players to watch
Matteo Kovacic has been settling down well at Manchester City and he could feature in this cracker against long-term adversaries Arsenal. The player has come up against Arsenal severally while at Chelsea. He has almost always had an impact during such games. Is he going to perform decently at Man City? We will catch his first competitive glimpse of him on the material day.
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Timber, Rice, and Havertz have already shown, albeit faintly, the quality they possess and what they bring to the table for the Gunners. The manager has found quality in the three critical additions to the squad. Since they have already settled, this could be a game to prove their worth, having been signed for decent fees.
The Verdict
This is a game where both clubs could walk out victorious. Man City, despite dominating the last head-to-head meetings, have had their poor shows over the break. A 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid exposed a Man City side still struggling to regain their balance after losing some players. Arsenal have won some games but and lost only one with the signs indicating utmost readiness from the gunners. The FA community shield 2023 is all lined up scintillating action and it will surely be anyone’s game.
