Arsenal vs Man City: Predicted lineups and confirmed team news for Community Shield

Guimaraes in line to start this afternoon (Picture: Getty Images Europe)

Arsenal and Manchester City meet at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff with the Community Shield up for grabs in the new season’s curtain raiser.

After ending their 22-year wait for Premier League title glory, the Gunners meet the side who pushed them most of the way last term with a new face in the City dugout in Enzo Maresca .

The FA Cup and Carabao Cup winners have begun life without Pep Guardiola with Rodri possibility set to follow him at the door during a summer of change at the Etihad.

Elliot Anderson will be tasked with running City’s midfield with his £116m move from Nottingham Forest the club’s most significant business to date.

Erling Haaland did not feature in his side’s final pre-season game against Atletico Madrid and was not involved in part of Thursday’s open training session. Maresca eased any fitness concerns over his striker however, confirming he will be available for selection today.

Whether he starts is another question, with no pre-season games under his belt having helped Norway reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Omar Marmoush scored twice in that 3-1 win over Atletico and could keep his place in the side.

Anderson, Marc Guehi and Rayan Cherki are also among those to have only recently returned to training. Rodri is also among them with the World Cup winner also the subject of a £55million offer from Barcelona.

Anderson has only just returned to training (Picture: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire)

While his future may be under the spotlight, he is surely set to miss out for a different reason today having undergone minor back surgery immediately after the World Cup, absent from training on Thursday.

Tijani Reijnders is another who will likely miss out with the Dutchman in talks to join Saudi side Al Qadsiah.

Arsenal fans will be eager to get a closer look at their two new recruits in Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis ahead of their defence of their crown.

The former Newcastle United captain made his debut midweek against Como with Tzolis impressing during pre-season with both hoping to start this afternoon.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Zubimendi have all returned to the squad after their extended breaks but have not played a minute of pre-season football, only resuming training this week.

Mikel Arteta has confirmed the trio are available for selection but could be tempted to hand Rice and Saka in particular an extra rest before business really kicks off next week against Coventry City.

There are problems at the back however with William Saliba facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines as a result of his back problem.

Jurrien Timber is back in training but would appear to still be a number of weeks away from returning to action.

The Community Shield kicks off at 3pm this afternoon (Sunday 16 August).