Arsenal v Man City

Arsenal vs Manchester City Preview

The Community Shield traditionally marks the start of the English top flight season and the ‘curtain raiser' is usually contested between the winners of the last season's league title and the FA Cup winners, but as Manchester City won both competitions last term, the runners-up in the Premier League, in this case Arsenal, will take on City at Wembley Stadium.

This fixture also pits the wits of the master against the apprentice as Pep Guardiola takes on his former assistant, Mikel Arteta, in the Wembley dugouts on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal have won the Community Shield on 15 occasions previously but The Gunners manager, Mikel Arteta, and his squad must still be kicking themselves for letting their seemingly strong grip on the Premier League title slip and allowing Manchester City to steal it from under their noses at the end of last season's campaign.

At the turn of the new year, Arsenal were sitting top of the Premier League table and seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City with Arteta's side seemingly poised to lift the league title for the first time since the 2003/04 season under Arsene Wenger, but picking up just three wins in their final nine league games sealed Arsenal's fate as runners-up in what was a painful lesson in ruthlessness.

The three victories were collected against Chelsea, Newcastle United and Wolves but three defeats did the damage, one of which was a particularly heavy 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Sunday's opponents, Manchester City.

Manchester City won the coveted ‘treble' in what was a triumphant campaign for the blue side of Manchester as Pep Guardiola's side won the Premier League title, the FA Cup and also the Champions League trophy, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the final.

On the domestic front, Manchester City put together an excellent 12-match winning streak from the end of February through to mid-May which included notable victories against Newcastle United 2-0, Liverpool 4-1, Arsenal 4-1 and Chelsea 1-0 as Pep's side simply blew away all opposition in that purple patch of form.

By the time City had stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Brighton and a 1-0 defeat away from home at Brentford on the final day of the season, the title had already been snatched from The Gunners and awaiting to be engraved with the name of a familiar club.

Arsenal v Manchester City Verdict

Not only do the top two clubs at the end of last season's English top flight go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium, but so do their respective managers who spent three years together in the Manchester City dugout with Mikel Arteta the apprentice to the master, Pep Guardiola.

Manchester City have undoubtedly held the upper hand over Arsenal in previous meetings as City have won each of the last eight encounters, while on a personal level, Guardiola has won eight of the previous nine meetings against his former assistant, and this trend looks set to continue on Sunday afternoon.

Therefore, our main bet will be Manchester City win @ 1.70

Other side bets worth considering:

Man City win & Under 2.5 goals @ 4.75

Correct score: Manchester City 2-0 @ 9.00