Elliot Anderson sends Arsenal a message ahead of Community Shield clash on Sunday

Manchester City’s marquee £116 million summer signing Elliot Anderson has shared his verdict on Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arsenal face Manchester City in the traditional curtain raiser on Sunday afternoon, as England’s top two sides contest for the Community Shield.

For the first time in 20 years, the game will be hosted by Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, where Arsenal last played in 2007’s League Cup final.

This summer, Man City signed Elliot Anderson for £116million in a deal which set a precedent for Bruno Guimaraes and every other midfielder who moved this window.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash, the England star has given his verdict on what to expect from the Premier League champions.

“Yeah, it’ll be a difficult game,” Anderson said. “Obviously, they’re champions from last season, so it’ll be tough.

“But every game’s going to be tough this season and we’ll just put our style on them and try and win the game.”

Elliot Anderson could play against some familiar faces in the Community Shield

Anderson will be well familiar with a number of the Arsenal players, most notably Declan Rice, who he partnered in midfield for most of the World Cup.

Anderson, much like Rice and Bukayo Saka, most likely won’t start, having yet to feature in pre-season.

But if he does feature he could come up against Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White, all of whom he has played with for England.

He could also be involved in a juicy midfield battle with a former Newcastle teammate of his, Bruno Guimaraes.

Arsenal’s £75million marquee signing is set to make his competitive debut after impressing in his second-half debut cameo against Como.

It will be interesting to see if Arteta experiments with his team selection at all, testing new combinations or patterns of play.

He could well be tempted to field two 16-year-olds, given the pre-season displays by Max Dowman and Marli Salmon.

Who he starts up front will be interesting too, after sharing the minutes among Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, and Gabriel Jesus against Como.

If last season’s crucial league match against City is anything to go by, it’s likely Havertz will get the nod.

Arteta will surely pick the team he thinks is most likely to get him the win as he looks to pick up his third Community Shield as manager.

In fact, Arteta boasts a flawless record in the competition, having won it twice as a manager and twice as a player.

With both teams missing key players following a heavy summer schedule, Sunday’s meeting in Cardiff promises to provide the first real glimpse of where the top two sides stand heading into the new campaign.