Preview: Manchester City vs. Arsenal

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will be without more than eight players when his side line up against Arsenal in the Community Shield.

Captain Vincent Kompany, along with Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Bacary Sagna, will all sit out of the North London clash after recently returning from holiday after the excursions at the World Cup.

On-loan midfielder Frank Lampard will also be missing, while striker Alvaro Negredo is recovering from a foot injury.

However, Pellegrini could hand debuts to Willy Caballero and Fernando, with Stevan Jovetic, who missed the majority of last season through injury, likely to start in attack.

Much of City's pre-season preparation has been spent in the United States, but they ended the tour on a low note after suffering back-to-back penalty-shootout losses to Liverpool and Olympiacos respectively.

Unlike Pellegrini, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is likely to have the majority of his squad available to him for their final fixture before the start of the Premier League, but Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski are expected to be absent after their efforts in Brazil.

New signings Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez are expected to earn starts at Wembley, while Calum Chambers could deputise for Mertesacker in the centre of defence.

Arsenal warmed up for their match with City with a decent showing at last week's Emirates Cup, beating Benfica by a 5-1 scoreline before they were edged out by Monaco.

Recent form

Manchester City: WWDD

Arsenal: WLWL

Possible starting lineups

Manchester City: Hart; Clichy, Kolarov, Boyata, Nastasic; Fernando, Toure; Silva, Nasri, Jovetic; Dzeko

Arsenal: Szczesny; Debuchy, Koscielny, Chambers, Gibbs; Wilshere, Arteta, Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla; Giroud

Sports Mole says: 1-2