The Last Five Community Shield Winners Before Arsenal Face Manchester City
The FA Community Shield is English football's traditional curtain raiser, played each August between the previous season's Premier League champions and the FA Cup winners. This year, it moves to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on August 16, where Arsenal, league champions in 2025-26, meet FA Cup holders Manchester City in the 217th meeting between the two clubs. Supporters have been checking the FA Community Shield odds since the FA confirmed the fixture in June, with City having won the most recent meeting between the pair 2-1 in April.In this article, we look back at the last five Community Shield winners, how each club qualified and how each match was won.
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Kelechi Iheanacho - here playing for Nigeria - scored the only goal for Leicester in 2021
2021: Leicester City
Leicester City arrived at Wembley as FA Cup winners, having beaten Chelsea in the final three months earlier, with Manchester City qualified as Premier League champions. The match stayed goalless until the closing stages, when Kelechi Iheanacho converted a penalty in the 89th minute to give Leicester a 1-0 win. Jack Grealish, City's record signing that summer, made his first start for the club that afternoon, but did not make enough of an impact to turn the score around.2022: Liverpool
Liverpool qualified as FA Cup winners and faced Premier League champions Manchester City at the King Power Stadium, the fixture having been moved from Wembley for the Women's Euro final. Trent Alexander-Arnold put Liverpool ahead on 21 minutes with a deflected strike, and Julian Alvarez levelled it midway through the second half. Mohamed Salah scored from the spot on 83 minutes, then Darwin Nunez headed in during stoppage time on his debut to seal a 3-1 win.
Leandro Trossard scored 1-1 for Arsenal in 2023
2023: Arsenal
Manchester City won both the Premier League and the FA Cup in 2022-23 as they won the treble, so Arsenal, as league runners-up, took their place at Wembley. Cole Palmer curled City in front on 77 minutes and it looked settled until Leandro Trossard's shot deflected off Manuel Akanji in the 11th minute of stoppage time to make it 1-1 and send the game to a shootout. Kevin De Bruyne hit the bar in the shootout, and Aaron Ramsdale saved from Rodri, with Arsenal converting all four of theirs to win 4-1 on penalties.2024: Manchester City
This was a rematch of the FA Cup final Manchester United had won three months earlier, with City back at Wembley as champions. Alejandro Garnacho put United ahead on 82 minutes before Bernardo Silva headed in Oscar Bobb's cross with a minute of normal time left. Extra time is not played in the Community Shield, so the match went straight to penalties, where Manuel Akanji scored the decisive kick in a 7-6 win. Anyone weighing up a football bet on the Cardiff meeting might note how regularly this fixture has needed spot kicks.2025: Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace reached the Shield for the first time in their history after winning the FA Cup, meeting Premier League champions Liverpool back at Wembley. Hugo Ekitike scored inside four minutes on his competitive debut, Jean-Philippe Mateta equalised from the penalty spot on 17 minutes, and Jeremie Frimpong restored Liverpool's lead four minutes after that. Ismaila Sarr made it 2-2 on 77 minutes, and Dean Henderson then saved from Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott before Justin Devenny scored the winning penalty in a 3-2 shootout.Arsenal have won each of the last five Community Shields they have contested, the most recent of them against City in 2023. Manchester City have won one of their four appearances since 2021.