Arsenal and Manchester City meet Sunday in the FA Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season, with the match carrying extra significance as Premier League champions Arsenal face an FA Cup-winning Manchester City side beginning a new managerial era.

The match kicks off at 3 p.m. British Summer Time at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, breaking from the fixture’s usual home at London’s Wembley Stadium, which was unavailable this year due to previously scheduled concerts. The Football Association confirmed the 74,000-capacity Welsh venue as the replacement host.

Arsenal enters the match as reigning Premier League champions after winning its first English top-flight title in 22 years under manager Mikel Arteta, a triumph that came alongside a run to this year’s Champions League final, where the Gunners ultimately fell to Paris Saint-Germain in May. Arsenal has been active in the transfer market since, with Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes completing a £75 million move from Newcastle United, a signing teammate Mikel Merino said has given Arsenal what he believes is now the strongest midfield in world football.

Manchester City qualified for Sunday’s match as winners of the 2026 FA Cup, and the fixture carries particular significance for the club given it marks Enzo Maresca’s first competitive match in charge following Pep Guardiola’s departure after nine trophy-laden seasons at the helm. Maresca, who previously managed Leicester City and Chelsea, took over a City side that endured what has been described as a turbulent summer as it works through its own transition period. City enters the match after completing a preseason tour of Asia.

For viewers in the United States, the match will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, with streaming available through ESPN+, the ESPN app, and Fubo, which is offering eligible new subscribers a free trial that can be used to watch the match without an upfront subscription cost. Kickoff in the U.S. is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern time, or 7 a.m. Pacific time.

Viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland can watch the match on TNT Sports, with coverage carried across both TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, as well as via streaming through HBO Max. In Canada, the match is available through Sportsnet World and Sportsnet+. Australian viewers can watch via Stan Sport, while fans in New Zealand can access the match through beIN Sports Connect.

Broadcast rights extend further across international markets as well. In India, Sony LIV and the Sony Sports Network have confirmed live coverage of the match. German viewers can watch on DAZN Germany and DAZN1, while French audiences can access the match through beIN Sports and beIN Sports Connect. In Spain, the match airs on Movistar Plus+, and Italian viewers can watch via DAZN Italia. In Brazil, coverage is available through ESPN Brazil and Disney+, while Argentine viewers can watch on ESPN Argentina and Disney+. Mexican audiences can access the match through TNT Sports and Max.

Given the wide range of legitimate broadcast partners carrying the match across different countries, viewers are encouraged to check with an official rights holder in their specific region for accurate access details, since broadcast rights and streaming availability can vary and are subject to change.

On the pitch, the two sides enter Sunday’s match with a closely contested recent head-to-head record. Their most recent meeting came in the Premier League on April 19, when Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Across their last five meetings, City holds a slight edge with two wins to Arsenal’s two, along with one draw. Arsenal’s most emphatic result during that stretch came in a 5-1 home victory in February 2025, while City claimed a separate 2-0 win over Arsenal in a Carabao Cup meeting in March 2026.

Both managers have emphasized that Sunday’s match should be treated with the seriousness of a competitive final rather than simply a preseason exhibition, given that it offers both clubs a genuine opportunity to open the new campaign with a trophy in hand. For Maresca specifically, a win would provide an early marker of success as he begins reshaping Manchester City following Guardiola’s historic tenure, while a victory for Arsenal would allow the club to build further on last season’s long-awaited title triumph right from the opening weekend of the new campaign.

With kickoff approaching and broadcast partners across the globe carrying the match live, fans in nearly every major market have a legitimate, officially licensed way to watch Sunday’s Community Shield clash between two of the Premier League’s most successful clubs as the 2026-27 English football season officially gets underway.

Safeway is closing additional stores as parent company Albertsons Companies reassesses its retail footprint following the collapse of its proposed $24.6 billion merger with Kroger.

Albertsons told USA Today that the company had slowed its potential “portfolio optimization” efforts while the Kroger transaction was pending, then resumed evaluating its store network after the deal fell apart. That process has included opening stores in areas where the company sees long-term demand while making what Albertsons described to the outlet as the difficult decision to close some locations.

The broader company closed 35 stores during fiscal 2025, more than triple the 10 it closed the previous year and up from eight in fiscal 2023, according to Albertsons’ latest annual filing. It opened nine stores during fiscal 2025 and ended the year with 2,244 locations across 35 states and Washington, D.C.

Those closures had a measurable impact on the grocer’s results. Store closures, net of new openings, reduced fiscal 2025 sales by $63.4 million, while costs associated with closed stores and surplus properties climbed to $45.1 million from $15.9 million a year earlier.

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Shoppers walk outside an Albertsons grocery store on Feb. 26, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Albertsons also continued investing in other parts of its store base. The company completed 94 remodels and opened nine new stores during fiscal 2025 as part of approximately $1.83 billion in capital expenditures, which also included investment in digital and technology platforms.

Albertsons operates 22 grocery banners, including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw’s and Tom Thumb, and employed approximately 280,000 workers as of Feb. 28, 2026.

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The company did not provide USA Today with a full list of planned Safeway closures. The outlet reported that Safeway locations that have closed in 2026 include stores at 231 W. Jackson St. in Hayward, California; 2220 N. Coast Highway in Newport, Oregon; and 1601 Maryland Ave. in Washington, D.C.

A customer shops at a Safeway store on June 11, 2024, in Mill Valley, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Albertsons said it is working to place as many affected employees as possible in jobs at other stores, according to USA Today.

The store review follows the breakdown of Albertsons’ planned combination with Kroger, which was announced in 2022 and would have created one of the country’s largest grocery companies.

The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion transaction, arguing that the combination would reduce competition and could lead to higher grocery prices and less competition for grocery workers.

On Dec. 10, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the merger. The FTC brought the challenge alongside nine state attorneys general.

A Kroger grocery store in Dallas, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2024. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The proposed deal subsequently collapsed, setting off litigation between Kroger and Albertsons.

Albertsons sought a $600 million termination fee from Kroger, while Kroger later filed counterclaims in Delaware disputing that it owed the payment and accusing Albertsons of undermining the regulatory process. Albertsons has disputed Kroger’s account.

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Albertsons did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on the closures.

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The Campaign for Real Ale has previously said that pubs are being “lost forever to conversion or demolition as developers look to cash in on the desirable locations and unique architecture of pubs and social clubs”.

The British Beer and Pub Association and UKHospitality have also campaigned against pub closures, with both largely blaming tax rises and other costs.

Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The biggest issue facing hospitality businesses is costs like VAT and business rates pushing pubs out of business in the first place.

“Anything that makes it harder to take these important assets away from their communities has to be welcomed, but the government should focus on continuing its strong start on fixing the harm done to hospitality over the past two years.”

In July, the Labour government said pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England will be given a 20% cut to business rates on top of rates relief announced in January.

The NPPF update being published Monday also includes default approval for homes being built around railway stations in England in an attempt to increase housebuilding numbers.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “By unlocking thousands of homes around well-connected transport hubs, we’re helping people live closer to work, school and the services they rely on, while backing local businesses and driving growth in our communities.”

The update also means that some groups will no longer need to be consulted on housing development plans as part of the process of getting permission.

Under the changes, Sport England will continue to advise on significant cases and the Gardens Trust and Theatres Trust will still be notified of relevant applications.

Labour has set a target to build 1.5 million homes by 2029. According to official data, external, it has so far built 392,000 homes in England since coming into power in July 2024.

Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said Labour “failing abysmally” to meet their target because of taxes and red tape.

“To try to fix their own mess, Labour are planning a power grab, seizing control from local communities and forcing them to accept development in the wrong areas because Labour won’t build in the right areas,” he added.

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