Arsenal XI to face Manchester city this week revealed as Rob holding set to start amid injury blow of Zinchenko
A week today and six days before Arsenal begin their 2023/24 Premier League campaign, there’s the small matter of a trip to Wembley where Manchester City await with the Community Shield up for grabs.
The traditional season curtain-raiser is back at the national stadium after last year’s edition took place at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium due to the hosting of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final. As champions and FA Cup holders, the Cityzens are aiming to go one better than 12 months ago when they lost to Liverpool.
As a result of City’s domestic dominance, the Gunners’ will be taking part in the Community Shield as a result of finishing runners-up in the Premier League table back in May and have been presented with a chance to not only claim a piece of silverware but also lay a maker down for next season’s title race.
Having said that, this particular game often splits opinions amongst supporters when the discussion arises annually. Some view the fixture as nothing more than a friendly, whilst others such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, take the game very seriously and count it as a major honour.
Considering Mikel Arteta’s approach to any game is to win, he will almost certainly name the strongest possible team at his disposal. But, as things currently stand, what does that Arsenal team look like for the game against Guardiola’s side? football.london takes a look below.
It’s an easy decision in between the sticks as despite a shaky performance against Manchester United, Aaron Ramsdale’s status as the undisputed number one remains intact as Karl Hein didn’t do enough in pre-season, Runar Alex Runarsson is out of favour and Matt Turner will be short of match sharpness.
As Arsenal have one more fixture pencilled in – against Monaco in the Emirates Cup on Wednesday evening – that should provide clarity over Oleksandr Zinchenko’s availability. Despite travelling to Germany and the United States, he didn’t feature in any of the four games as he continues to recover from a calf problem.
Although, the Ukraine international needn’t rush his recovery as there’s plenty of cover at left-back. Summer signing Jurrien Timber, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu have all played in this position during pre-season but it could be that Jakub Kiwior gets the nod alongside Benjamin White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
In midfield, captain Martin Odegaard and £105million club-record signing Declan Rice – provided he overcomes the knock that kept him out of the 5-3 win over Barcelona – will take up two of the spots, leaving Thomas Partey and another summer recruit in Kai Havertz battling it out to join them.
With the experiment not quite going to plan against Manchester United, Arteta can foreshadow how Arsenal will set up in the engine room for big games away from home next season as he has the insurance policy of adopting a more defensive approach by handing the Ghana international a start with Rice to provide the back four with extra protection.
Up front, unless Gabriel Martinelli does something outrageous against Monaco then it’s likely that Leandro Trossard’s pre-season form will be rewarded with a start alongside Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus
Arteta’s best Arsenal XI vs Man City as things stand: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Thomas, Odegaard, Rice; Saka, G. Jesus, Trossard
