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Viktor Gyökeres will look to help lead Arsenal to further silverware when they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield -Credit:Catherine Ivill - AMA, Getty Images
Arsenal star Viktor Gyökeres has dismissed the notion that Sunday's game against Manchester City in the Community Shield should be regarded as a friendly. The Gunners will face City at Cardiff's Principality Stadium for the opportunity to claim the season's opening piece of silverware.
The two sides went toe-to-toe last season in the Premier League title battle, with Arsenal emerging victorious. City did, however, defeat Mikel Arteta's squad in the Carabao Cup Final.
After Arsenal's 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in an actual friendly, Gyökeres was questioned about the match against City. The striker rebuffed a reporter who pointed out that a segment of fans and pundits regard the Community Shield as just another phase of preseason.
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"Against City? As a friendly? I don't know what other people think but we want to win that game of course, for sure," Gyökeres said, as per The Mirror.
"When you win titles, you get confidence, you get a boost with everything that comes with it. So, yeah, it's only positive things with that. We want to make sure that we're not only on top of that but that we're ready for the new season."
Arsenal have suffered back-to-back defeats this preseason and will take on Como 1907 on Wednesday, looking to wrap up their summer preparations on a positive note.
Arteta has yet to have his full squad at his disposal, but was asked following the Dortmund match whether he anticipates some players who featured in the latter stages of this summer's FIFA World Cup to be involved on Sunday.
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"Yes, because we have very different groups within the same time that they are coming back," the Arsenal manager explained. "Why? Because some of them they've done more, some others they've done less, some more than they did and almost participated in the World Cup in terms of minutes.
"So they are all very different stages. I want to see as well the way they have looked after themselves, what they said they did and actually what they did and how they look. But I'm sure that will be all positive surprises."
Arsenal's title defense gets underway at home against newly promoted Coventry on Friday, August 21. The Gunners will then make the trip to Aston Villa for their second Premier League match.
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