Both Arsenal and Manchester City will go into the season curtain raiser with full confidence, after the previous campaign resulted in an FA Cup and Premier League title for the respective clubs.

Following last season, the Community Shield will give Arsène Wenger’s side the chance to capitalise on the their Wembley triumph in May, providing confidence and more silverware ahead of 2014/2015.

Busy in Brazil

The Gunners have been busy this summer, more than usual, spending over £60 million with the acquisitions of Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers, David Ospina and Mathieu Debuchy.

Despite the World Cup this summer in Brazil hampering plans, pre-season has been a good opportunity in blooding the new signings into the club, while testing the players match practice and fitness.

Shaking it up

While the Emirates Cup did not prove an entire success, a strong team performance against Benfica, with Yaya Sanogo leading the line, has encouraged fans that their long-term wait for a league title could finally end this year.

Michael Oliver will be refereeing a game that should be played with good will, with vanishing spray making its first appearance in England to shake up football once more.

Too many Gunners

German World Cup winners Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker will all miss the game on Sunday, while Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott will be absent through injury.

It is expected that Olivier Giroud will be on the bench as he struggles to get fit ahead of the Premier League opener next weekend, while the departing Thomas Vermaelen may not even make the squad.

With that in mind, The Mirror predict that Alexis Sanchez will be given license to roam up front in his competitive debut, thus resulting in a starting line-up looking something like this:

Szczesny – Debuchy – Koscielny – Chambers – Gibbs – Wilshere – Arteta – Cazorla – Ramsey – Oxlade-Chamberlain - Sanchez

Rallying the troops

Wenger has rallied the troops already, admitting that although winning the Community Shield is not the be all and end all, it is a way of laying down the marker to domestic opposition.

“Of course you want to start strongly because we have the memory of what happened last year on the first day of the season, although it did not stop us from being top of the league for more than 100 days.”

Ox talk

After a disappointing World Cup with injury, Oxlade-Chamberlain has also put down the marker for the upcoming game, telling Arsenal.com that the team will go all out to win it on Sunday.

"[The Community Shield] is definitely something we want to go and win. We're going into the game hoping to win and it is a good chance to look at ourselves before the start of the season.

"It's a big game in its own right and one we're approaching really seriously."

Left in the city

The Gunners will be encouraged by the news that Manchester City will be missing eight key players, including former Arsenal player Bacary Sagna.

However, supporter antagonists Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri are likely to feature alongside a host of their title winning talent.

Not the be all and end all

Winning the Community Shield is not an indication of where the season ahead will take you. Manchester United won it last year and that is a catastrophe that the Gunners will be unwilling to comprehend.

However, it would be nice for Arsenal to start the season with a bang and gain some momentum that can take them to the heights they deserve to be at.

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