Enzo Maresca begins his reign as Manchester City manager with a high-profile assignment on Sunday as Premier League champions Arsenal face the FA Cup holders at Cardiff's Principality Stadium in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser for the new English season.

In a parallel universe, it might have been Mikel Arteta succeeding the departed Pep Guardiola at the Etihad. Instead, it is Maresca — another coach who worked under the Catalan at City and formerly of Leicester and Chelsea — who has been handed the daunting task of sustaining the club's remarkable success of the past decade.

How the two clubs' summers unfolded

Arsenal's summer has been celebratory yet frustrating. Having ended a 22-year wait for the domestic title, the club made Piero Hincapie's loan from Bayer Leverkusen permanent and added Illan Meslier on a free transfer after he left Leeds United. Christos Tzolis arrived from Club Brugge to replace Leandro Trossard, who moved to Besiktas, while the headline capture was Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United.

However, the champions missed out on Morgan Rogers, who joined Chelsea, and Vinicius Junior, who signed a new contract at Real Madrid. Fringe players including Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira remain at the club despite efforts to move them on.

City's window has been slower. Their club-record signing Elliot Anderson is expected to make a major impact, but much else is pending. Rodri could depart, with Enzo Fernandez a possible arrival; Tijjani Reijnders could leave as Ayyoub Bouaddi potentially comes in; and Savinho could go with a fellow winger targeted. About 80 per cent of the first-team squad toured Hong Kong and South Korea, allowing Maresca to instil his ideas, while Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and the England players have been building fitness since Wednesday.

A rivalry that has exploded

The Arsenal-City rivalry has intensified in recent years. At boardroom level the two clubs "do not get on," a feeling mirrored among supporters. Arteta, though, maintains respect for his counterpart: "I really like Enzo as a person, as a professional. I think he's done a terrific job at Chelsea."

Mini-stories have fuelled the animosity: the 'bottle' incidents at the Etihad in April, Haaland vs Gabriel, Myles Lewis-Skelly vs Haaland, the Declan Rice and Vitor Reis transfer tussles, Cherki's ball-juggling taunt at the Carabao Cup final, and Arsenal fans' disdain for Rodri's 2024 title comments. Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres underlined the fixture's significance after the Dortmund friendly: "(The game) against City? A friendly? I don't know what other people think, but we want to win that game, of course; for sure. When you win titles, you get confidence, you get a boost with everything that comes with it."

Predicted lineups

With Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice only just back from post-World Cup breaks, Arsenal are unlikely to risk them from the start. Late returnees Martin Odegaard, Gabriel, David Raya and Noni Madueke have featured in friendlies and should start, while Bruno Guimaraes could make his first Arsenal start. William Saliba misses out with a back injury that ended his World Cup. A possible XI (4-2-1-3): Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie; Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard; Madueke, Havertz, Tzolis. Youngsters Ethan Nwaneri, Max Dowman and Marli Salmon could feature from the bench.

City will likely blend some late-returning World Cup stars with the Asia-tour contingent. A possible XI (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Anderson; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.

Predictions

Arsenal have won all three previous Community Shield meetings with City, but the club's correspondent predicts that run ends with a 2-1 City win. City's correspondent, citing the side's wayward penalties in a Hong Kong friendly against Inter, forecasts an Arsenal shootout victory — a result that would extend Arsenal's perfect record in this fixture against City.

Why Cardiff, and how to watch

The fixture was moved from Wembley in March because of a scheduling clash with The Weeknd's concerts at England's national stadium. The 74,000-capacity Principality Stadium hosted the match six times between 2001 and 2006 during Wembley's renovation. Kick-off is 3pm BST (10am ET, 7am PT), live on TNT Sports/HBO Max in the UK and ESPN in the United States.