How to watch Community Shield 2026 for FREE: Live stream details and TV channels for Arsenal vs Manchester City
A rivalry resumes in the annual curtain-raiser to the English top-flight season
Watch Arsenal vs Manchester City as the Premier League champions face the FA Cup holders in the Community Shield 2026, with FourFourTwo bringing you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.
- Date: Sunday 16 August
- Kick-off time: 3:00pm BST / 10:00am ET / 12:00am AEST (Sun)
- Free Stream: Nove TV (Italy) / TVP (Poland)
- TV & Streaming: TNT Sports (UK) / ESPN Select (US) / Stan Sport (AUS)
- Watch from anywhere: Get 75% off with NordVPN
The top two teams in English football resume their rivalry in the traditional curtain-raiser to the domestic season, which this year takes place at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
For the first time since 2004, the Gunners contest this fixture as Premier League champions after fending off City, who had to settle for the FA Cup and Carabao Cup - although they did beat Mikel Arteta's side in the final of the latter competition.
Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch the Community Shield 2026 online and from anywhere, as Arsenal face Manchester City.
Watch Community Shield 2026 for FREE
Nove TV (Italy) and TVP (Poland) will be showing the Community Shield between Arsenal and Man City for free.
The UK will have no free broadcaster this year with TNT Sports broadcasting the match.
Outside Italy or Poland? Use a VPN to access your free Community Shield stream from anywhere in the world.
Watch Community Shield 2026 from anywhere
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How to watch Community Shield 2026 in the UK
Fans in the UK can watch the Community Shield 2026 on TNT Sports.
TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max will have live coverage of Arsenal vs Manchester City, with kick-off at 3:00pm BST. Full coverage begins at 2:00pm.
Outside the UK? Watch Arsenal vs Manchester City on TNT Sports via NordVPN.
Watch the Community Shield 2026 on TNT Sports
Arsenal vs Manchester City is live on TNT Sports, which costs as little as £25.99 per month for a minimum 12-month term or £30.99 per month on a rolling monthly contract. TNT Sports is also the home of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League for UK viewers, while it will broadcast at least 52 Premier League matches this season.
How to watch Community Shield 2026 in the US
ESPN is showing the Community Shield 2026 in the US, with Arsenal vs Manchester City live on ESPN Select and Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes. Kick-off is at 10am ET.
In the US you can access ESPN on OTT streaming platforms including YouTube TV (up to 21-day free trial), DirecTV Stream (5-day free trial), Fubo (5-day free trial) and Hulu+Live TV (3-day free trial).
Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch Arsenal vs Manchester City on ESPN Select.
Watch the Community Shield 2026 on ESPN Select
Arsenal vs Manchester City will be shown live on ESPN in the US. ESPN Select costs $12.99 per month or £129.99 per year, while ESPN Unlimited rises to $29.99 per month or $299.99 per year. ESPN is also the home of the FA Cup, La Liga and Bundesliga in the US, with every game live across the 2026/27 season.
How to watch Community Shield 2026 in Australia
Fans in Australia can stream the Community Shield 2026 on Stan Sport.
Travelling outside Australia? NordVPN is your ticket to watch Arsenal vs Manchester City on Stan Sport.
Watch the Community Shield 2026 on Stan Sport
Stan Sport is getting cheaper for 2026/27, thanks to the newly introduced Basic with Ads plan, bringing the monthly cost down from AU$32 to AU$29.99. That’s great news for Aussie football fans, who can stream Arsenal vs Manchester City and a host of other games throughout the season, including every Premier League and UEFA Champions League fixture.
Community Shield 2026: Preview
It is 22 years since Arsenal last contested the Community Shield as Premier League winners, having looked enviously at their title-winning opponents in their past six appearances in this fixture.
The Premier League trophy was the one piece of silverware the Gunners wanted more desperately than any other, and they finally claimed it last season after three successive second-place finishes.
In some ways, the pressure is off Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after finally winning the league title in his sixth full campaign, but the Spaniard will be keen to keep the hammer down this season, starting with this clash against City.
He looks set to hand Bruno Guimaraes a competitive debut after the former Newcastle United captain completed his £75m move last weekend, as the Gunners look to replicate their victory over City in this fixture three years ago.
SEE ALSO Should I use a VPN for streaming football in 2026
The fee Arsenal paid for Guimaraes seems like a bargain compared to the £116m City shelled out for former Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, who could also make his competitive debut here.
However, the most notable new face at City is in the dugout, where Enzo Maresca has the unenviable task of following Pep Guardiola. The Italian knows the club well, having coached in the academy and as part of Guardiola's backroom staff before spells at Leicester City and Chelsea, but this is a very different test.
Victory in Cardiff would be a great start for Maresca, although he will be judged on his side's performance in the Premier League and Champions League rather than the Community Shield and domestic cups.
Arsenal have traditionally had the edge in this rivalry, but City have beaten the Gunners twice in the past five months: 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final in March, before a 2-1 success in the Premier League four weeks later.
FourFourTwo's prediction
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
We expect the Gunners to have the edge over City, just like in the Premier League last season.
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James Roberts is a freelance sports journalist working for FourFourTwo and other titles. He started his career at the Oxford Mail, where he covered Oxford United home and away, before becoming a sports sub-editor for various national newspapers.
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