Arsenal face Liverpool for the Community Shield on Saturday and Mikel Arteta has some decisions to make with his starting XI for the showdown.
The Gunners will hope to kick-start the new campaign with a win and a trophy to build on their FA Cup success last season, but they will face a difficult challenge against the reigning Premier League champions.
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As noted by the club’s official site, they will have to make do without Callum Chambers, Pablo Mari, Gabriel Martinelli and Shkodran Mustafi who are all ruled out due to injury, while both William Saliba and Willian are expected to make their respective debuts for Arsenal as per Liverpool’s update on their opponents on their site.
It’s added in the latter report that Bernd Leno is available after recovering from a knee injury, and so Arteta will have some decisions to make on Saturday when trying to put out his best possible XI.
It’s a quick turnaround between the campaigns and so both sides will hope that they have used the break well to recover and recharge, and with the start of the new Premier League season just a couple of weeks away, this is an important game for both to ensure they make a positive start.
Liverpool have been handed a boost as Virgil van Dijk is available despite suffering a cut to his head during the pre-season game with Salzburg, while there are a handful of other first-team players who could yet feature but decisions will be needed from Jurgen Klopp on them leading up to the game.