In this year’s edition, Premier League champions Manchester City should face FA Cup winners Manchester City, so league runners up Arsenal have been drafted in to fill in for the Treble winners.
This will give Mikel Arteta a chance to show off his shiny new toys, while Pep Guardiola must prove his side are at least as strong as they were last season despite key departures.
Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko are the headline absentees for Arsenal, while Bukayo Saka is expected to recover from a minor illness to be fully fit. Arteta said Jesus would be absent for a few weeks after “a little procedure” to clean up the knee he had surgery on in December 2022, meaning he will also miss the start of the Premier League season.
Zinchenko has not played a minute of pre-season as he continues to struggle with an ongoing calf injury. Summer signing Jurrien Timber has deputised for the Ukrainian in his absence, with Kieran Tierney a further option for Arteta at left-back.
Meanwhile Saka, who was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s Emirates Cup penalty-shootout win over Monaco on Wednesday, should be able to start at Wembley. “He was fine, but after he wasn’t feeling great on the bench,” Arteta explained. “We didn’t want to use him. I think he had some sickness or some illness or something so we could not use him.”
The Gunners will also be without Reiss Nelson and Folarin Balogun, who have both picked up foot injuries, with Nelson missing the entirety of pre-season.
What can we expect from Arsenal?
With the big-money signings of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Timber, Arsenal’s squad is significantly stronger than the one which challenged City for the title last season. While it raised eyebrows initially, Havertz’s introduction gives Arteta options for incredible flexibility in attacking play. In their friendly against Barcelona, the German began playing as a left-sided No 8, Granit Xhaka’s former role, before also lining up at left-wing and up front throughout the game.
Given the versatility of other attacking tools like Saka and Leandro Trossard, expect to see some of the interplay and position switching we have come to expect from Guardiola’s Man City from the side in red.Meanwhile, Rice is expected to line up alongside Thomas Partey in a midfield duo trialled throughout pre-season. Despite Xhaka’s reputation as a hard man, Rice is a significant upgrade both defensively and going forward, and will likely be key to this contest.
However, Arsenal fans may be disappointed not to see Timber in his preferred role, as a player most comfortable as a right-back or centre-back is likely utilised on the left to cover for Zinchenko. Yet he has excelled as a left-back in pre-season, highlighting his credentials as a versatile talent with excellent footballing intelligence.
Arsenal’s predicted line-up
Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, Jurrien Timber; Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli
City’s injury list is less extensive but features a more crucial figure. Kevin De Bruyne has not played since picking up a grade three hamstring tear in the Champions League final in early June, and is not expected to return until at least the European Super Cup on 16 August.
City’s only other doubt was Nathan Ake, who missed their final pre-season game against Atletico Madrid, but he is expected to be fit.
This is good news for Guardiola, who will be desperate to avoid injuries as the departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan, as well as the possible sale of Kyle Walker to Bayern Munich, leave his squad thinner than last season.
What can we expect from Man City?
Much of the same really. Gundogan’s exit may have a significant impact on City in the long term, but you imagine they will be fine for one game without him just as they have been whenever he was rotated or rested previously. Mateo Kovacic has been brought in to replace the German, but whether he can fulfill that role effectively remains to be seen.
City’s pre-season has been underwhelming, with two losses from their three games, but this is still the first English side to win the Treble in over 20 years and Erling Haaland is still Erling Haaland.
Man City predicted line-up
Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Rodri, Mateo Kovacic; Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland
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