Manchester United vs. Arsenal
Sunday 10th July 2003, Millennium Stadium
Community Shield Final

Manchester United take on holders Arsenal for the historic shield, in a game which often sets the standard for the Premiership campaign ahead.

Some people see the Community Shield as little more than a pre-season friendly, but I can assure you that neither myself, or any other of the 72,000 supporters who will pack out Cardiff's Millennium Stadium tomorrow, will be treating the game as anything else other than a Cup final.

The fact it's between Manchester United and Arsenal, the two giants who have dominated English football for the past decade, makes it that extra special, and will undoubtedly give the winners additional confidence going into the Premiership opener next Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson also feels the game will have a very competitive edge.

"We've used the Charity Shield for our own purposes in the past, as a barometer of the players' fitness. I don't know what it will be like on Sunday, but you would think that a game between United and Arsenal would be very competitive." said Sir Alex.

The United boss has almost a completely fit squad to choose from, with only Gary Neville and Wes Brown missing through injury.

United are expected to start with John O'Shea, Mikael Silvestre, Rio Ferdinand and Phillip Neville at the back, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set to take David Beckham's place on the right of midfield.

Following his impressive display in Wednesday's friendly defeat against Sporting Lisbon, Sir Alex Ferguson must decide whether to give Eric Djemba-Djemba a start in midfield, or go with the experienced Roy Keane and Nicky Butt as the centre midfield partnership.

Ryan Giggs will almost certainly start on the left wing, with Ruud van Nistelrooy playing up front, and Paul Scholes playing just behind the Dutch striker.

Sir Alex's biggest selection problem will be who he will play in goal. United have the luxury of having three excellent 'keepers all bidding to earn the Number One jersey, with Roy Carroll, Fabien Barthez and Tim Howard all getting games in United's pre-season build-up.

As for Arsenal, their only big-name summer signing Jens Lehman is set to make his debut in Sunday's showdown.

With the confusion over whether or not Patrick Viera would be staying at Highbury almost over, the French midfielder is looking certain to start.

Still, it is doubtful whether Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry will all be amongst the starters, following their participation in the recent Confederations Cup.

United's pre-season so far has been superb, with the 3-1 mid-week defeat in Portugal being the only disappointment. The Red Devils gave the perfect advert for football during their 4-game tour of the United States, winning all of their matches, and scoring 13 goals!

Arsenal's pre-season form has been a little more mixed, winning just four of their nine friendly matches. However, the Gunners did show some excellent form in their recent 3-0 demolition of SPL treble winners Glasgow Rangers last week.

United's form in the competition, which was re-named the Community Shield from the Charity Shield last season, has been a little poor in recent seasons. The Red Devils have lost their last four appearances in the Shield, with defeats coming against Liverpool (2001), Chelsea (2000) and Arsenal (1998, 1999).

United were victorious in the 1997 shield, with a penalty shoot-out victory over Chelsea.

Arsenal are the current holders of the Community Shield, following an impressive victory over Liverpool last season, and will be desperate to hold on to the silverware this time around.

Finishing only one goal behind Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Premiership last season, Thierry Henry has been one of the Premiership's greatest ever players since joining Arsenal from Juventus, 3 seasons ago.

The Frenchman was originally signed as a winger, but his superb goalscoring form has seen Arsene Wenger play him as a striker.

His tremendous pace make him a nightmare to handle for defenders, and his form this season will be crucial for the Gunners as they look to win back the Premiership crown from United.

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I'm going for an Arsenal win by the odd goal in three, but I've always been known as a pessimist!

U-N-I-T-E-D

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