Erling Haaland will start for Manchester City against Arsenal in the Community Shield, with new boss Enzo Maresca confirming the striker is fit despite a minor scare in training.
The Norway international, who scored twice in three appearances against the Gunners last season, sat out the final part of Thursday's open session. However, Maresca said on Friday: "He [Haaland] was okay, he had just a small thing behind ears, but he was ok."
Haaland's Return and Team News
Haaland did not feature in pre-season after an extended break following Norway's run to the World Cup quarter-finals. He starts ahead of Omar Marmoush, who scored twice in the 3-1 friendly win over Atletico Madrid and has been linked with a move away.
With Tijjani Reijnders' move to Al-Qadsiah set to be finalised, Maresca has named Elliot Anderson as Mateo Kovacic's midfield partner. The £116million signing makes his City debut.
Midfield and Attack
Rodri is back after minor back surgery and ready to train, but is unlikely to feature as Barcelona prepare a bid. Phil Foden starts in the No10 role, with Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku, who recently signed a new five-year contract, completing the attacking trio behind Haaland.
Man City XI: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Kovacic, Anderson; Semenyo, Foden, Doku; Haaland. Subs: Rulli, Guehi, Marmoush, Cherki, Nico, Grealish, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Lewis. Injured: Savinho, McAidoo, Rodri.
The match kicks off at 3pm BST on Sunday August 16, 2026, at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, and will be shown on TNT Sports 1.
