Mikel Arteta has spoken to the media ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield match, so let’s take a look at the Arsenal and Manchester City team news.
Arsenal are set to face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, but both clubs are in a race to get their players ready following the summer World Cup.
The Gunners will certainly be without William Saliba, who suffered an injury prior to the World Cup tournament and was ultimately unable to continue playing through it.
The centre-back reached the semi-finals, but he was forced off during the game and didn’t appear in the third-place play-off match.
One player who missed the World Cup but is also set to miss the Community Shield is Jurrien Timber, with Mikel Arteta suggesting he still needs some time to make a recovery.
“Jurrien [Timber] is progressing really well, he is on the pitch, we are ramping up certain actions,” Arteta said. “I think he is in a good trajectory. With Willy [Saliba] it is a more long-term injury.
“I don’t know (if Timber will be back before the international break). We need to wait and see. He needs to train with the group.”
The good news is that Arteta confirmed that Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, and Bukayo Saka will all be available, having trained on Friday with further sessions planned for Saturday.
That means everyone else is available for Arsenal, barring any undisclosed setbacks. World Cup returners Zubimendi, Rice, and Saka were the only players (besides the injured Saliba and Timber) not to feature in pre-season.
On the other side, Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Ryan McAidoo is their only injury issue from their pre-season tour, and the player has already returned to training.
However, Rodri is still out after his minor back surgery, so he won’t be involved in the Community Shield match.
Maresca did clarify “everyone is fit, knowing that some of them just arrived two days ago”, and added on Erling Haaland’s training absence: “He was okay. He just had some small things behind his heels, but he’s okay.”
Both teams are going to have players who are technically fit, but likely unable to start. The exact lineups are going to be difficult to predict, but the matchday squads should be roughly full strength, with only Timber, Saliba, and Rodri definitely missing.
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