Maresca Pledges to Close Arsenal Gap in First City Season
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Enzo Maresca said closing the gap to Arsenal is the goal of his first season as Manchester City manager, after Guardiola's side finished seven points behind the Premier League champions last term.
- Arsenal and Manchester City face off in the Community Shield on Sunday in Cardiff, with Arsenal having won all three previous Community Shield meetings between the two clubs.
- Mikel Arteta called Maresca 'just as good' as predecessor Pep Guardiola and said his squad have returned early and looking sharp in their push for the season's first trophy.
- Sky Sports' predictor rates Arsenal four points clear of Manchester City as favourites to retain the Premier League crown.
- Erling Haaland is 'ok' despite a 'small thing behind the heel,' per Maresca, while Arsenal will be without injured pair Jurrien Timber and William Saliba at the back.
- Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi are available for Arsenal but are yet to play in pre-season after international duty, with Sky Sports analysis predicting a bench start for all three.
- Tijjani Reijnders is 'unlikely he plays on Sunday — or ever again for City,' according to Sky Sports' Laura Hunter, as Maresca weighs his midfield options.
Why it matters: Sky Sports' title predictor puts Arsenal four points clear of Manchester City, and Maresca himself cited the seven-point gap to the champions — so Sunday's Community Shield offers the first competitive evidence of how City measure up under new management against the team they must overhaul.
Ask SkimNews
