Arsenal will look to get one over on Manchester City this Sunday when they clash in the Community Shield.
It will be interesting to see how close Arsenal are to Manchester City after the Gunners’ spent £200m over the summer.
But it is worth noting this game often has little meaning when it comes to overall performance in a season. Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 in the 2022 match and didn’t even make it into the top four last term.
Regardless, Mikel Arteta and co. will still want to kick off their campaign on the right foot after such a bitter end to 2022/23.
Here is 101GreatGoals’ combined XI for the match.
GK: Ederson
RB: Ben White
Manchester City’s two senior right-back options look set to leave the club this summer, leaving little competition for Ben White, who has excelled at both ends of the pitch and formed a great partnership with Bukayo Saka down Arsenal’s right.
CB: William Saliba
Saliba’s debut campaign for Arsenal showed him to be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League last season. The Frenchman put on displays well beyond his years and it is unlikely a coincidence that the Gunners’ title charge collapsed when he got injured.
CB: Ruben Dias
You only have to watch the 2023 Champions League final to see what a quality defender Ruben Dias is. The stopper pulls out major goal-saving tackles and blocks on a regular basis for the Citizens.
LB: Nathan Ake
The charity match to raise funds for Ukraine takes place on Saturday and Oleksandr Zinchenko is taking part, suggesting he will not be involved on Sunday for Arsenal, leaving this spot open for an in-form Nathan Ake, who was superb in the second half of 2022/23.
CDM: Declan Rice
This spot could easily go to Rodri or Declan Rice as they are both world-class defensive midfielders. But as Rice does offer a bit more going forward, he just about takes it.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne remains one of the best attacking midfielders in world football and is sure to go down as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats. His ability to pick a pass is second to none and there is nobody in the Arsenal XI who could take this spot.
CM: Martin Odegaard
The only player who comes close to KDB from the Arsenal team is Martin Odegaard. The former Real Madrid man scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in 37 Premier League matches last year.
RW: Bukayo Saka
Given Manchester City are currently without a natural right-winger, there is very little competition for Bukayo Saka. His form may have dipped at the end of last season but he still scored 14 and assisted 11 in 38 PL matches.
ST: Erling Haaland
36 goals and eight assists in 35 Premier League games last term, obviously, Erling Haaland is in the XI.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli
Whilst Jack Grealish improved in 2022/23 for Manchester City, Gabriel Martinelli was arguably the best left-winger in the PL last term. He scored 15 and assisted five in 36 matches for the Gunners.
Arsenal & Manchester City combined XI
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