Manchester City may struggle to make the Premier League’s top four, says Frank Leboeuf (Picture: ESPN) Frank Leboeuf has dropped Manchester City from second down to fifth in his Premier League prediction following the side’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal. Enzo Maresca was given a rude awakening in his first official match in the dugout since taking over the reins from Pep Guardiola, with his City side falling desperately short of expectations in a heavy 3-0 loss in Cardiff. Riccardo Calafiori put Arsenal in front inside just 24 seconds and City offered very little by way of response before the Premier League champions further increased the deficit through Kai Havertz on the half-hour mark. Christos Tzolis provided the assist for Havertz on his full Arsenal debut and the impressive Greek added a second to his name just moments into the second half as Martin Odegaard kept his cool to put the contest to bed. Get the latest transfer news every morning Sign up to our daily football newsletter for personalised updates on who your team is trying to sign and who won't be around next season. Maresca, who cut a frustrated figure on the touchline for the most part at the Principality Stadium, will be under pressure to find immediate answers ahead of City’s top-flight opener with Bournemouth on Sunday. The Gunners, meanwhile, will brimming with confidence heading into their clash versus Frank Lampard’s newly promoted Coventry City on Friday night. Prior to a ball being kicked in the Welsh capital, ex-France and Chelsea defender Leboeuf backed City to repeat what they achieved last season in the Premier League by finishing second. Maresca’s City begin the top-flight season versus Bournemouth this weekend (Picture: Getty) Frank Leboeuf's new top-six prediction Arsenal Chelsea Manchester United Liverpool Manchester City Tottenham But speaking to ESPN in the aftermath, Leboeuf revealed that City had vanished from his top-four prediction – with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all jumping up a place behind his favourites Arsenal. ‘Exactly. We are judging on one game, present time and Manchester City are not ready,’ he explained. ‘They are missing players, some are not fit, I don’t see Marc Guehi on the bench, I see maybe Guehi instead of Josko Gvardiol and Gvardiol maybe somewhere else. ‘For sure, Elliot Anderson wasn’t ready and I don’t even talk about Erling Haaland who was a ghost, so they’re not ready. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Arteta says Community Shield statement win proves Arsenal are 'ready for it'","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/08\/17\/7779755569864816200\/480x270_MP4_7779755569864816200.mp4","description":"Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal's desire \"to go straight again\" after Manchester City were overwhelmed 3-0 by the Premier League champions in the Community Shield.","duration":"T8M14S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/08\/17\/07\/110678029-0-image-a-8_1786947795231.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-17T07:22:17+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘I played in two Community Shields, I never thought it was a friendly game. That’s not a pre-season game. ‘You are one week away from the beginning of the Premier League, it’s not a friendly game. It’s a game you have to w
