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Confirmed Arsenal team to face Man City in the Community Shield

The Community Shield is the traditional curtain raiser featuring the Premier League and FA Cup winners, however, with Man City doing the double it means the team that finished second in the league gets to play against the champions and that is Arsenal.

Normally, this match does not really have much of an impact on the upcoming season but because of the battle that occurred between Arsenal and City last season, it does carry some meaning.

Mikel Arteta will be keen on beating his former club and this is the team he has gone with today to achieve that.

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139 Comments

  1. The game against Manchester city will show how Arsenal has improve since last season as we freezed last season as if we did not have game plan.this season we must play and buy Saka cover up as he play more games without rest and cover other positions as we playing championship league .lot of games

  2. Very strong line up except not sure about Havertz starting as CF ahead of Trossard
    Hopefully we will win today

    1. Not sure what trossard needs to do to get a start anymore. I can only imagine arteta wants to test havertz at CF in our system – not sure why it wasn’t tried earlier in preseason, though

      1. I believe Havertz is CF today just to add alternatives to scoring, with Trossard, we’ll have no aerial presence against the monsters in man city’s defence, so I agree with Arteta on this.

      2. Disappointed Trossard and Tierney didn’t start; both were among our best players in preseason. Not surprised Nketiah didn’t start with both Trossard & Havertz better players.

        I would be more concerned if this was the lineup against Nottingham Forest, how much more can Trossard or Tierney do to get starts?

  7. Poor Trossard as the most in form player in the whole squad, not surprised Havertz is pushed in.

    We should be very sharp with signings done early, COYGs

    3. Martinelli playing as CF doesnโ€™t make any sense because Havertz canโ€™t play as winger

      1. “Havertz can’t play as a winger”

        I think I’ve had enough of the cluelessness thats been creeping on here. If you cared to research before typing you’d know Kai operated mostly as a right and left attacker before dropping deep at Leverkusen. I respect your views but I just dont like people throwing out baseless statements like conspiracy theorists.

  9. That is a pretty dreadful looking team sheet I have to say. Severely lop-sided and harsh on Trossard, who should probably be starting alongside Odegaard. Havertz is a great midfielder but a poor No.9 so it is predictable that that is precisely where he is going to be played.

    We have 2 LBs but Arteta would rather play another RB there instead? All this lineup tells me is that Arteta has learnt nothing from last season and that Nketiah, Balogun & Tierney may as well look for another club because they aren’t going to play.

    I don’t like Rice and Partey together either. So we spent ยฃ100 on a fantastic DM so we are gonna play him as an AM instead when that is the weakest part of his game!? Obviously! I don’t know why I was looking forward to the new season ๐Ÿคฆ

      1. I’m entitled to an option, Ackshay! We don’t all have to be sunshine and roses about everything Arteta does. Try being objective. This is not a good team shape in my opinion and does nothing to encourage the likes of Tierney and Nketiah because once again Arteta has demonstrated he will play his favourites no matter what.

        1. That is true over the last several years.
          We all remember Willan’s unlimited chances.

          Or healthy Defensive Tierney on the bench while Zinchenko leaks goal and directly responsible for us dropping points.

          Rice is a great DM, but average at best in a more forward role.

          Havertz is a below par striker, yet here we are.

          Why not play to players strengths rather than trying to overthink positions and tactics?

    2. Ben nothing dreadful about the team selected and I think yo will find that Partey and Rice will be used as central midfielders to match up with the Stones,Rodri pairing.Playing Timber out of position is a gamble which will restrict our ability to attack down the left but Arteta seems determined to stick with the inverted LB system which cost us goals last season.Tough on Trossard, Tierney and Nketiah who was very good against Monaco .

      1. Declan Rice is a defensive midfielder we have just spent ยฃ100M on and he is being used as an AM! I thought we were playing our inverted fullback system, which means it’s Partey and Timber at DM and Rice further forward. It’s a poor lineup.

    3. But when we played Liverpool and arteta played tomy at left back and kept Salah quiet everybody said it was a master stroke from the manager.

      1. And after today I am prepared to admit that Timber was brilliant and LB and deserved a MotM in my opinion. He basically made it impossible for Zinchenko and Tierney to replace him and the gulf in quality when Tierney replace him was astounding. And Tierney is really good!

        Havertz was pretty bad, but I maintain that he COULD rise to a similar status to that RvP eventually achieved. His ability to find space in the penalty area is uncanny but he finishes like someone who expects not to score. If Arteta can change that we will have some player then.

  10. We’ll finally see Havertz in false-nine role for Arsenal, after watching him play it for Germany and Chelsea

    Balogun isn’t even on the bench. Maybe he’s really moving to Inter

    1. Gai I donโ€™t know why Havertz is playing as false 9
      We have seen how miserably he has failed as false 9 at Chelsea
      Also his finishing is not also that great
      He has missed so many good chances while playing in Chelsea colours

      1. He played false-nine decently for Germany. He didn’t have to score many goals for them, but he acted as their main pivot

    2. This team list seem a big error from Arteta but we shall see. Hope Havertz can interchange with Matinelli. Matinelli hardly excel against ManCity his pace wouldnt yield anything if Walker plays. Trossard should have been given a chance. May be Arteta wants to experiment with Community shield. One thing I like is Pathey and Rice playing.

      1. I also think it’s just an experiment. It may not work against Man City, but Havertz could grow in the false-nine role if he keeps playing it and I suspect he’ll rotate with Saka instead of Martinelli

  11. We again light on the bench in terms of quality of midfielders and attackers. We need another B2B midfielder and a top attacker to really have a squad to compete in all fronts.

  12. This confirms that Arteta does rate Tierney and have no faith in him. I think the guy needs to find himself another club where he’ll be able to play and enjoy his football again. Such a good play but unfortunely Arteta does not see him as such. Having a natural left back but consistently playing right backs in his place even when he is match fit goes to show he’s either not in your plan or not your kind of player

  14. The Community Shield is still effectively a friendly and therefore offers an additional opportunity to try out some more tactical tweaks. So I donโ€™t think we should be overly concerned about the Arsenal starting lineup.
    What I will be looking out for (and I bet the coaches too) is the performance of each player in his assigned role.
    There will also be a raft of changes in the course of the game. So youโ€™d expect the players starting from the bench to have a chance as the game progresses

  15. I think Kai haverts will b better as a cf at arsenal than at chelsea because he has d scoring mentality we need is jus the physical part of it dat is d problem

  16. If havartz has a great game then Arteta knows what heโ€™s doing but if he does not have a great he needs to shoulder that decision. Most of us โ€œarmchairโ€I think would rather see Trossard, Balogun or nkietia play that role so for me itโ€™s a big big gamble. And Iโ€™ll reserve judgement until the end of the game and hope the real manager is correct in his decision and not us โ€œarmchairโ€ managerโ€ฆ

  19. Just another glorified friendly. It’s okay for Arteta to try out his “crazy” ideas in this fixture. At least it’ll give him a sense of what works and what needs fixing before the new season starts.

    1. Friendly my arse! Itโ€™s a competitive game with a trophy, commonly calls the Super Cup in Europe.

      1. It’s a CHARITY GAME whose proceeds are distributed to the needy around the country. Sure sounds like a glorified friendly to me!

        1. Of course but very competitive all the same. You obviously saw (or possibly not) both teams wanted it. Glorified? Oh reallyโ€ฆ. Just because no one earned anything just shows they were not pullin* out of tackles and the joy to win, which we did, and that shield is in our cabinet again!

        2. Participating teams don’t see it that way homey, as you’ve just witnessed it looks nothing compared to friendly forget about the charity aspect of it.THIS IS ALL ABOUT BRAGGING RIGHTS.The normal subs rate speaks volume of the competition.

    1. Always trying to assert his authority in the wrong manner. I wonder why they trust him with big games.
      Hopefully we shall see less of him in future games.

  29. I have mentioned earlier that Havertz finishing is poor
    And he is proving me right..
    2 big chances missed

    1. Argghhh! Goodness, those chances simply requires extra effort to gas through city’s defence.nice turning by the way.

  31. I keep saying we actually don’t need Havertz.
    But the crazy amount spent on him means the coach have to feature him to justify why he bought him.

  33. Man City were still one level above us. They were almost completely press-resistant and their touches/ passes were generally more consistent than ours

    Havertz showed two good hold-up play efforts and provided the physicality for the team

    I also liked Rice’s work rate. His playing style really resembles Xhaka’s

    Timber and other defenders were also solid

    1. Appart from the first 20 mins I thought we were the best team imo. Just need to be better in front of goal.

      1. Our GK and defenders were nervous when Man City attackers pressed them. Man City were very dominant, but we managed to make two shots on target

    2. Gai I told you earlier that Havertz finishing is not that great
      And he just missed 2 good chances
      1st one was little difficult but 2nd one was sitter

      1. Man City’s GK played very well

        I told you guys many times that our CF doesn’t really have to score many goals, as long as he can be our first defender and main pivot. Remember about Ronaldo at Man United

  34. Havertz is having a great game despite not scoring, his arial prowess and hold up play is excellent.
    He’s a threat a drawing attention.

    Timber, what a player, if he’s like this against the Citizens, can see why Ten Hog was desperate for his signature

  35. Things learned first half..

    1. Man City are finding it not a walk in the park. We are favorite now to win this game.

    2. Saliba is handling treble winners like a champ. Clearly the best defender in England right now.

    3. Timber is one of the best signings of the summer. Coming from another league yet he has fitted in like he has been here forever. Yet someone will say we give Havertz time to adjust with all PL experience he has.

    4. Arteta should find best position for Havertz soon. There is no time to experiment. Our attack is poor because of him. Such expensive signing with huge wages one would think he had clear plan on how to unleash him.

  36. There seems to be strength and fortitude in the team. In seasons past I think we would be behind now but we look strong and unafraid of city! Rice and timber have been massive!

  37. Our setup off the ball has been excellent,City couldnt get to the inside. Arteta should be commented for the way he has neutralized Pep’s tactics. Some will say we were domnated in the first mins but I think we were still getting our act together.

  38. Pep always has a rabbit in the hat

    He did it against us in Emirates when we ended the 1st half feeling like the better

    2nd half the just came at us in a different way

    But we have a bench that can hurt them
    I hope that proves to be the case

  39. Great game by timber so far, havertz also playing well but he does need to improve his finishing should have atleast 1 goal here. Rice, havertz/trossard give us the ability to choose between an attacking mid or defensive one, arteta choose the latter for today.

    Not a dreadful team so far

    1. Martinelli needs to be replaced. Sorry ๐Ÿ˜” but he is not effective enough for me in this game.

  43. Happy to see the clampdown on time wasting but when are they gonna do something about city tactical fouls.

    1. City’s got a lot of tall players so it’s meant to be difficult and of course it’s city we are talking about here.

  46. I really don’t get it, any decent referee does their homework about players and team behaviour. City tactical fouls have been going on for years yet ref turn a blind eye to it. Rodri gets like 3 get out of jail cards every game.

    It’s either incompetency or bias and i don’t know which is worse at this point.

    1. This ref should not be offiacting big games. He is too full of himself sadly ๐Ÿ˜”.

  49. City always find a way to beat us
    Without Mahrez, without ฤฐlkay GรผndoฤŸan and without Haaland on pitch
    Still manages to get better of us

        1. Don’t be so quick to show how little you know about defending ๐Ÿ™‚

          Massive overload on KTs side. If he doesn’t go with the runner and the the pass goes out to him and he crosses for a goal you’ll be blaming Tierney too!

          The FACT is that he was left completely exposed by the midfield….or did he only have 1 man to mark?

      3. I am not blaming anyone here but I wonder how City always get better of us??
        Today supposedly they were weak side especially after loosing above mentioned 1st 2 names
        But still some rookie came and scored stunner

  52. Don’t understand why our best player had to be subbed. And we conceded soon after from his position. Havertz is a new favorite. Poor throughout. No strength, no speed, no creativity yet still on.

  55. No matter the score lots of positive here. I just hope Arteta will use all the players at his disposal.

  57. Tierney really didn’t do himself and favours sadly. Our lack of finishing and one mistake has cost us this match.
    We still have enough time to address this before the season kicks off. I for one am not disappointed but I don’t think Harvezt should be played as a striker.

  58. I know l sound like a broken record record but going forward I hope never to see this ref in big games ever again ๐Ÿคฌ

  59. From what I have seen today, we’re certainly a good match for City. We’ve improved a lot. Timber is an massive upgrade over KT. Is Havertz worth ยฃ65m though? Rice is worth every penny if he plays like that every week. Saliba was immense. Partey had great moments but also some bad ones. One, imo lead to the goal. All in all though, we have improved the squad. And just as I said that…..WOW. We scored!!!

  62. Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ

  64. Odegaard also needs to stop with the cute little plays and too many turn overs . He just has to keep it simple and learn how to release the ball quickly. I must say I like how Nketiah pressed when he came on.
    ESR ‘s cameo was also great.

  69. Ramsdale never saves penalties they say. Well that’s two in his last couple of games ๐Ÿ˜

  70. I’m really pissed with Arteta

    Kai was obviously the worst payer on the pitch in the 2nd half (he had a good 1st half)

    And everybody knows there’s an in form player on the bench yet Arteta waits till Man City scores us before he brings in Trosaard

    Yet it wasn’t for Kai

    His biaz affected us last season

    And he’s showing us he’ll continue it this season

    2. Trossard came on before City scored??? Other fun fact would be the goal was entirely kt after he came on too, one of those things he got sold it happens. We won, I’m happy and we have a great squad including kt especially and Trossard obviously wanted him to start personally. Stop hating.

        1. He got put on his arse one on one. What are you talking about? One of those that happens sometimes but love the fact you are arguing it if it was timber/Zinchenko you’d be highlighting it. Celebrating nah?

          1. I’m a big Partey fan

            But that goal was Partey’s fault

            Man City can use spaces better than us
            We stifled them of spaces all through the 1st half

            But Partey gets turned too easily and opens up our defenders

            Didn’t we watch Saliba get turned easily & we conceded against Aston Villa when the space was too much

            A defender really can’t do much in that situation

            That’s why we concede more goals with a DM that is not efficient with blocking the defense, the opened spaces will be too much, too often

            1. Fair enough but KT still got done one on one. I don’t think it’s that important but I love how the usual routes I would go to explain the full picture are now being used to defend the situation because it doesn’t fit a narrative.

              Genuinely love the fact your analysing the whole in this situation although you were not remotely doing that with the original comment. Just curious why you targeted Kai at that point instead of either Partey or KT? Particularly wrongly saying Trossard wasn’t on.

              Kai himself didn’t win any people over with a special performance that is a fact, he also wasn’t particularly awful either and probably better than Saka in the game overall.

        2. Of course KT gets excuses because he is favoured by a number of people on here.
          It was clearly a difficult situation with the overload. However, both KTโ€™s decision making and balance were off in that situation.

  71. Despite the referee’s agenda, lady luck smiled down on us.
    This should serve as a mental huddle over come against the citizens as we get the season under way.
    Today I will enjoy this victory as I will be spared from Sky sports and their pundits how City is the team to beat.
    Thank you Trossad and best of luck to the team going forward.

  73. What a win. Meant more to us than city and was important. Narrative if we lost would be we just can’t beat city so it was huge. Way both managers celebrated both goals says everything. Happy man, enjoy your evenings fellow gunners!

  74. Firstly well done to the team and manager! Can’t believe some were saying this is a friendly. The smallest trophy, but a trophy nonetheless.

    How Trossard doesn’t start I don’t know.

    I can see another Willian scenario where someone is going to try and prove they made the right decision by playing the player regardless of form to prove they were right.

    Now before those that lack comprehension jump down my throat….although a odd signing that wasn’t a priority I don’t think Havertz is a bad player and might be great, however let him earn his place in the starting line up from the bench.

    1. Willian issue was way overplayed at the time when the whole team was performing bad. ESR ended up with more minutes than Willian that year and was injured until mid December.

    2. You’re very right

      We didn’t need Kai

      There’s still Smith-Rowe to play either CM or AM

      There’s still Fabio struggling to break into the team

      Another AM wasn’t what we needed

      With Jesus not been a Goal Poacher, the fact that Kai can play as false-9 is not a point too – cos that will be another Striker that doesn’t know how to score

      Kai wasn’t needed

  76. Wouldn’t be too surprised if history again repeats itself. History has it that whenever Arsenal wins the Community Charity Shield,,, that club that Arsenal beats always goes on to win the English Premier League. A little bit of useless trivial information

    1. It was quite biased commentary in general but they went to lengths to point out the shield winner has very very rarely won the league in recent years when it was up in the air.

      If City won however that would not of been the talking point, it would of been Arteta losing to pep again. So in that way it was massive.

      In terms of the actual season to come not that massive overall but helpful because that narrative is dead for now. We have beaten city/pep. It’s a small thing, the team has to actually show up week in week out for it to matter, at that point it’ll be important. The act itself doesn’t guarantee the results though, that comes after. If they do come then it matters because narrative that way doesn’t exist.

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