Manchester City will play their first competitive match of the 2026-27 season today when they take on Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Today’s match sees the FA Cup holders take on last season’s Premier League champions. Today’s match can be viewed as a friendly, however, Enzo Maresca is viewing the match against Mikel Arteta’s side as the first opportunity for his team to claim silverware.
Here is the my predicted Manchester City starting eleven and the latest team news ahead of today’s match in Cardiff.
Latest City team news.
On the injury front, only Rodri is ruled out of today’s match for Manchester City. The Spanish midfielder had minor back surgery following the World Cup. Manchester City’s midfield general hasn’t returned to training yet. Due to the possibility of Rodri signing for Barcelona, it remains to be seen if he will ever train with, or play, for City again.
It would also seem highly unlikely that Tijjani Reijnders or Savinho will feature in today’s match. Reijnders is on the verge of completing a move to Saudi Arabian club Al Qadsiah. Therefore, the Dutch midfielder is unlikely to be included in City’s squad for today’s match. Savinho didn’t train with his teammates during Thursday’s open training session. It was reported that the Brazilian international was suffering from an illness. Savinho has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham so it is unclear if he feature in the City squad today.
Erling Haaland sat out the closing stages of Manchester City’s open training session on Thursday. Enzo Maresca told the media that it was only a precaution that Haaland sat out the latter stages of training. Perhaps the wise move would be for Haaland to start on the bench today after his busy summer with Norway.
Ryan McAidoo missed Manchester City’s final two preseason friendlies in Asia due to a shoulder injury. It remains to be seen whether or not McAidoo will play a role in today’s match against Arsenal.
Predicted City starting lineup.
