Manchester City and Arsenal set to kick off new season at Wembley

Treble winners Manchester City meet Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.

The Gunners topped the Premier League for most of last season before being usurped by Pep Guardiola's men en route to their fifth title in six years.

Here's some of the talking points ahead of the clash.

City to pick up where they left off?

City finished last season in unstoppable form as they powered to the treble, winning 11 successive games after February’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest to pip Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

They also saw off Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final and beat Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Inter Milan to claim Champions League glory.

Sunday brings a chance to see how Guardiola’s side appear to be shaping up as they prepare to hunt down further silverware, with Erling Haaland no doubt eager to open his account for 2023-24 after his astonishing 52-goal haul last season.

The Rice is right for Gunners

Arsenal reacted to their most sustained title challenge in years by getting their transfer business done early in the summer.

Kai Havertz joined from Chelsea and Jurrien Timber came in from Ajax but it was the club-record signing of West Ham captain Declan Rice for £105million that caught the eye – not least because City were also interested in landing the 24-year-old.

Rice will be seen as pivotal in taking Mikel Arteta’s side from nearly-men to trophy winners and what better way to prove your credentials than starring against the might of City’s midfield.

Gundgo-gone

An interesting alteration at City over the summer has been the departure to Barcelona of experienced midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, a key man in the closing stages last term.

The new recruit in that position is Mateo Kovacic, brought in