This Sunday sees the Community Shield, the traditional one-off match that acts as a curtain-raiser to a brand new Premier League and football season, take place, with Arsenal taking on Manchester City at Wembley.
While it is not considered to be a major honour by many and isn’t always indicative of whether or not a club will go on to have a successful season or not, emerging triumphant in the Community Shield is still important for a few reasons – it is a fantastic momentum boost for the winning side heading into the first round of Premier League fixtures.
In the case of an Arsenal win, the early-season psychological boost that the Gunners would get from getting one over the side that they will be fighting for the title with this season could be invaluable in what will be a very tough and difficult title race. And as mentioned, while the Community Shield is not taken totally seriously, its status sitting somewhere between a friendly and an actual competitive match, it is still a piece of silverware, and clubs will still relish any chance to add to their list of honours.
Arsenal have won this particular piece of silverware 16 times in their history, while Manchester City have won the Community Shield six times – both teams will want to increase those figures by winning this weekend. And finally, this one-off match is, for the two teams competing, each club’s first real test after their respective pre-season tours.
Arsenal flew off to the USA while Pep Guardiola’s men jetted off to Japan and South Korea in Asia, and while both clubs did play matches against the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid alongside other teams smaller in stature, the Community Shield will be both Arsenal and Manchester City’s first real test against elite opposition in a competitive environment before the Premier League begins.
As previously mentioned, Manchester City have won the Community Shield six times, with their last win coming in 2019. The Citizens beat Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular time, and they will be hoping to make it their seventh Community Shield win this weekend when they come up against the 16-time winners Arsenal.
City do have a clear edge over the Gunners in terms of recent head-to-head records, with Pep Guardiola’s men having beaten the Gunners in all of their last eight meetings in all competitions. Arsenal’s last win, and incidentally Mikel Arteta’s only win against Man City as Arsenal boss, came in 2020 when Arteta’s men saw off City 2-0 in an FA Cup semi-final, while Arsenal’s last win against City prior to that came yet again in the FA Cup in 2017, with Arsene Wenger’s men emerging triumphant after extra-time via a 2-1 scoreline.
While it is not good reading for Arsenal fans going into this bout, they can take solace in the fact that the last time these two sides met in a Community Shield setting, the Gunners won by a resounding 3-0 scoreline, alongside the fact that City themselves have lost in both of their last two Community Shield appearances. Arsenal themselves last won this trophy in 2020, ironically by beating Liverpool on penalties after the match finished 1-1 in regular time, just like City had done the previous season.
