Maresca’s first match in charge is against the champions, and Arsenal have no Saliba

English football’s new season starts in Cardiff on Sunday, which takes some getting used to. Arsenal and Manchester City play the Community Shield at the Principality Stadium at 3pm local time, 7.30pm IST, with Wembley booked out for concerts and the fixture heading to Wales for the first time in about twenty years.

Enzo Maresca’s first day at work

This is the part worth watching. Pep Guardiola left the Etihad at the end of last season after ten years, and Enzo Maresca, who coached City’s youth side and worked as Guardiola’s assistant during the treble season, has come back from Chelsea on a three-year deal to replace him. Sunday is his first competitive match in charge.

The pre-season reading is thin but encouraging. City finished their Asia tour with a 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on 9 August, in front of more than 50,000 people. They went behind to a Jorge Dominguez goal just before half time, then Antoine Semenyo cut Atletico open twice inside two minutes and Omar Marmoush scored both times, in the 57th and 59th minutes. Rayan Ait-Nouri added a third at the death.

Arsenal turn up as champions, and a defender or two short

Arsenal won the Premier League last season with 85 points, ending a wait that had run since Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten side in 2003-04. They did it on defence: 19 clean sheets in 38 games and 27 goals conceded, both the best figures in the division. Mikel Arteta was named manager of the season.

The two players most responsible for those numbers will not be on the pitch. William Saliba is out with a back problem that Arteta has described as long term, and Jurrien Timber misses this one with a groin injury, though he is closer to a return. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are both expected to feature.

Arsenal have spent to protect the title. Bruno Guimaraes arrived from Newcastle for around 75 million pounds, Christos Tzolis came in from Club Brugge, and Piero Hincapie’s loan from Bayer Leverkusen was made permanent. Whether any of that fixes a centre-back shortage on Sunday is a different question.

City won the last one that mattered

The sides met at Wembley in the League Cup final on 22 March and City won 2-0, with Nico O’Reilly scoring twice in four minutes just after the hour. Arsenal went on to win the league anyway, which tells you how little a single cup tie settles. It is still the last time these two played a final.

City qualified for Sunday as FA Cup winners, so both teams arrive with something from last season. The competition itself is a friendly with a trophy attached, and neither manager will risk much in mid-August. That does not make it pointless. A new manager’s first ninety minutes sets a tone, and Maresca gets his against the champions.

Then the league

The Premier League proper starts on Friday 21 August, with Arsenal at home to Coventry City. Whatever happens in Cardiff, that is the fixture Arteta has been building towards.

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