New York Post may receive compensation and/or receive an affiliate commission if you click or purchase through our links. Featured prices are subject to change. A new English Premier League season is on the horizon, but first, it’s time for the annual FA Community Shield match. The Community Shield takes place each year one week before the start of the Premier League season and features the previous season’s Premier League champions facing the team that won the FA Cup. This year’s Community Shield match will feature Premier League champions Arsenal and FA Cup winners Manchester City. FA Community Shield: What to know Who: Arsenal vs. Manchester City When: August 16, 10 a.m. ET Where: Principality Stadium (Cardiff, Wales) Channel: ESPN Stream: DIRECTV (try it for free) As Premier League teams, Arsenal and City play each other at least twice a season; Their most recent meeting in April 2026 ended in a 2-1 victory for Manchester City. Today’s match will be a rematch of the 2023 Community Shield match, which Arsenal won on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Manchester City won the Community Shield a season later in an all-Manchester match. Where can I watch the Community Shield? If you are in the United States, you can watch the FA Community Shield match live on ESPN. How to stream Community Shield in the US for free If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream FA Community Shield for free in the US. DIRECTV is our favorite service to watch live sports for free. Right now, you can take advantage of a five-day free trial before saving $30 on your first month. We recommend the Choice plan, which includes ESPN as part of its 125+ channels. If you’re not ready to commit to a full subscription and just want to tune in to today’s game, you can try a Sling TV Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to everything Sling TV Orange has to offer, including ESPN. What is the FA Cup? The FA Cup is an annual knockout football competition that is open to all eligible clubs from the Premier League up to level 9 of the English football league system. It starts with 124 teams and is played over eight rounds, with the field getting smaller and smaller. When does the 2026 Premier League season start? The 2026-27 Premier League begins on August 21, 2026 and is scheduled to end on May 30, 2027. Why the New York Post is looking for Trust Post This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with easy-to-use offers and information on how to watch their favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on all streaming services. Angela not only tests and compares the streaming services she writes about to make sure readers get the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, technology, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up with Bath & Body Works’ underrated perfumes and trying out headphones. Before joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, he wrote about streaming and consumer technology at Insider Reviews.
