Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed the availability of Bukayo Saka ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City at the Wembley Stadium.
The north London giants ended their pre-season campaign with a penalty shoot-out win over Monaco in the Emirates Cup. Saka was an unused substitute as he was deemed unwell.
However, the club graduate is now ‘feeling much better’ and speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said that Saka was involved in training with the rest of his teammates.
He said: “Bukayo was feeling much better, he trained today, so I don’t expect any other concerns.”
Aside from Saka, the likes of Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko were spotted in full training after respective injuries, but Sunday’s game should come too soon for the duo.
Arsenal have not had the best pre-season preparation, but it was partly due to the fact that Arteta chose to rotate his players around to build cohesion between them on the field.
The Gunners manager should pick his best possible line-up against Pep Guardiola’s side this weekend. Arsenal will start as underdogs, but will be hoping to spring up a surprise.
The club have won the Community Shield in the last four occasions, but this could be their toughest test yet, having been outplayed by the Cityzens in the Premier League last term.
Arsenal have lost eight games on the trot against the Cityzens since the FA Cup semi-final in 2020. Arteta will be aiming to erase the dreadful run in the upcoming clash in the capital.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
