The Community Shield will be contested between Arsenal and Manchester City, but why are the Gunners there?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Community Shield takes place on Sunday, with Manchester City and Arsenal facing off in the season's traditional curtain raiser.
Hosted at Wembley, the Community Shield usually pits the previous season's Premier League winner against the side which lifted the FA Cup.
However, with Manchester City winning both trophies - as well as the Champions League as part of their historic treble - it leaves many pondering why are Arsenal in the Community Shield? FourFourTwo uncovers the reason below.
Why are Arsenal in the Community Shield?
As stipulated in the Community Shield rules, when the same team wins both the Premier League and FA Cup in the same season, the second spot is awarded to the league runners-up from the previous term.
In this case, because Manchester City won both trophies, and because Arsenal finished runners-up in the Premier League during the 2022/23 campaign, the Community Shield this time around will feature the two aforementioned sides.
This isn't a rare occurrence either. In total, 13 teams have won the Premier League and FA Cup double across history, meaning, since the inception of the Community Shield in 1908, there have been ten runners-up from the league competing for the trophy.
Arsenal will become the 11th on Sunday, with Aston Villa's and Preston North End's double wins coming prior to the creation of the Community Shield.
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Arsenal vs Manchester City kicks off at 4pm BST on Sunday 6 August, with Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta chasing the first bit of silverware of the season. ITV will be broadcasting the game live in the UK, with streaming service ITVX also available for online viewers.
Arsenal and Manchester City face off in the Community Shield on Sunday (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
