Maresca in no mood to be 'friendly' as Arteta makes bold claim

Enzo Maresca has revealed part of his intention in his first season as Manchester City boss is to "close the gap to Arsenal", after finishing seven points shy of the Premier League champions last term. <p>A first glimpse of how realistic that ambition is will be gleaned in the Community Shield on Sunday.</p><p>The Gunners have historically won all three of their Community Shield matches against City, with this weekend's heavyweight bout in Cardiff destined to be a precursor to the start of an intriguing new rivalry between Mikel Arteta and Maresca.</p><p>The fixture also signals the final countdown to the start of the Premier League proper, with Arsenal opening their campaign against Coventry five days later and City beginning two days after that vs Bournemouth - both live on <em>Sky Sports</em>.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13571927/sky-sports-supercomputer-predicts-2026-27-premier-league-table-as-arsenal-retain-title-and-liverpool-jump-back-above-man-utd-between-the-lines"><em>Sky Sports' </em>predictor</a>, Arsenal are favourites to retain their crown, some four points clear of Man City. But there is renewed hunger from a different challenger to Pep Guardiola to disrupt those odds. Neither manager is likely to treat this introductory meeting, with silverware on the line, as cordial.</p><ul><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/TransfersSkySportsApp" target="_blank"><strong>Transfer Centre LIVE!</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/story-telling/11095/13108333/football-transfer-news-rumours-reports-and-gossip?inApp=true" target="_blank"><strong>Latest on YOUR PL club!</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/PLscoresarticles" target="_blank"><strong>Premier League fixtures & scores</strong></a> | <a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/FreePLHighlightsFirst" target="_blank"><strong>FREE PL highlights</strong></a>\u25b6\ufe0f</li><li><strong>Got Sky? </strong><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/WatchPremarticles" target="_blank"><strong>Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone</strong></a>\ud83d\udcf1</li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Latest Sky Sports deals</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="https://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports/football/premier-league?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream PL games with no contract</strong></a>\ud83d\udcfa</li></ul><p>"For me personally, it's a trophy," Maresca said. "When trophies are there in a final you are there to win the game, no friendly game at all. We want to try our best to win the first trophy.</p><widget id="5"></widget><p>"Arsenal have shown over the last few years, they have always been there. They're a fantastic team. Well managed, well coached from Mikel, and last year they win the Premier League.</p><p>"But we are City, we want to close the gap.</p><p>"Pre-season has been good. Now we need to compete, win games, win titles. I want to see high spirit and the right mentality."</p><p>When asked if <strong>Erling Haaland</strong> is fit to feature, Maresca added: "He is ok. He had a small thing behind the heel. But he's ok. Everyone is fit, but we know some of them have just arrived [after their summer break] two days ago."</p><h3>Arteta: Maresca is as good as Pep - my players are hungry</h3> <widget id="4"></widget><p>Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arteta revealed Maresca is "just as good" as his predecessor Guardiola - while also agreeing the Community Shield is a valid trophy - that can set the marker for the season ahead.</p><p>"The best version of Arsenal has to be on Sunday. That's the intention," said Arteta. "The best performance, the best way to start the season by lifting the first trophy. That's the way we've prepared the season."</p><p>Asked about facing City without Guardiola, Arteta replied: "Now it's Enzo - who is as good as [Guardiola], because I know him well. He will provide something different to the club."</p><p>Arteta confirmed that bar the injured <strong>Jurrien Timber </strong>and <strong>William Saliba</strong>, Arsenal have a clean bill of health - which includes <strong>Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice</strong> and <strong>Martin Zubimendi</strong> who are yet to play in pre-season yet.</p><p>"It's a trophy, one that we can have because we earned last year it from winning the Premier League," added Arteta. "You can tell how hungry the players are, which is a good sign.</p><p>"I love the way the players have come back, most of them earlier as expected. Really fit, we've done all the testing. They all seem in a great condition.</p><p>"The moment they started to look at each other, I said: 'look at the squad that we have and what we're building'. There's a lot of excitement."</p><h3>Team news: Haaland unlikely, Foden's big chance</h3> <widget id="2"></widget><p><em>Analysis by Sky Sports'<strong> Laura Hunter</strong>:</em></p><p>Man City's final pre-season friendly was played on August 9, a <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/manchester-city-vs-atletico-madrid/report/559827">3-1 win over Atletico Madrid</a>, and I expect Sunday's XI to be similar. Assuming <strong>Rayan Ait Nouri</strong> is in good enough condition, he should start at left-back. And with all the speculation around <strong>Tijjani Reijnders</strong>, it is unlikely he plays on Sunday - or ever again for City.</p><p>Maresca's central-midfield options are therefore<strong> Nico Gonzalez </strong>or <strong>Rico Lewis</strong>. England duo <strong>Nico O'Reilly</strong> and<strong> Elliot Anderson</strong> are the obvious contenders to take up that position when the Premier League kickstarts but neither have had a pre-season because of the World Cup.</p><p><strong>Omar Marmoush</strong> scored twice, both assisted by <strong>Antoine Semenyo</strong>, in that Atletico win and is...

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