Arsenal face Manchester City in Community Shield as Maresca era begins at City

Maresca's first test

Enzo Maresca will take charge of Manchester City in a competitive match for the first time when Arsenal face City in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 16 at 3pm (14:00 GMT) at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. Maresca replaced Pep Guardiola, who departed after a decade at the Etihad Stadium during which he won 20 major trophies. City won the FA Cup and League Cup in Guardiola's final season but finished as Premier League runners-up behind Arsenal. Maresca previously led Leicester to promotion and won the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea, though fans of those clubs seemed unconvinced by his style of play.

Arteta hails Guardiola and backs Maresca

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who served as Guardiola's assistant at City for four years, paid tribute to his former boss ahead of the match.

I would say that he's the best coach in the history of football. For many reasons, he's done it in different countries, in different ways. So, I think he will be missed in the Premier League.

Arteta also backed Maresca to succeed at City, saying the Italian has the personality, character and knowledge for the role.

What I know is that Enzo has the personality, the character, and especially the knowledge to have an unbelievable job there. That's why he's been selected, because they could probably pick anybody and they've gone for Enzo for the right reasons.

Squad availability and new signings

Arteta confirmed that Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Zubimendi are available after returning to training following extended breaks after the World Cup. Saka managed an Achilles issue late last season, while Rice dealt with hamstring-related neural pain since December and a knee problem. Captain Martin Odegaard, who made only 16 Premier League starts last season due to recurring knee, muscle and shoulder injuries, is well placed to regain consistency. Defender Jurrien Timber is recovering from a groin injury and remains weeks away from a return, while centre back William Saliba is sidelined with a back injury sustained during the World Cup.

Arsenal's summer business includes the permanent signing of Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen, the free transfer of Illan Meslier from Leeds United, the arrival of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge to replace Leandro Trossard who moved to Besiktas, and the signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United. The champions were unsuccessful in pursuits of Morgan Rogers, who joined Chelsea, and Vinicius Junior, who signed a new contract at Real Madrid. City made a club-record signing in Elliot Anderson.

A season of change

Nine of the 20 Premier League clubs have changed manager this summer. For the first time in 40 years, none of the five dominant managers of the Premier League era, Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho, Jürgen Klopp and Guardiola, will be in charge of a club. The Community Shield winners have not gone on to win the Premier League since 2018, making the match more of an indicator of potential flaws than strengths. Arsenal will begin their Premier League title defence against Coventry City on August 21.