Here is everything you need to know ahead of Manchester United’s first match of the new season, as they will try to lift the Community Shield against Manchester City, following their FA Cup triumph in the last game of the last campaign.
Team News
Man City still have some problems in terms of personnel. Ederson has returned to training since missing out on the Chelsea match due to minor problems, so he could still be a bit of a doubt for Pep Guardiola. If he does not get the nod, Stefan Ortega will be in the goal, as was the case during the pre-season. City will be without all of Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones for this match, as the four players got an extended summer break for themselves, following the European Championship final in which they were involved. Other players who featured at the Euros are all in contention, such as the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.
Looking at Man United, there are always some injuries creating problems. They will be without new signing Leny Yoro as he will remain out for a while due to his foot injury. Rasmus Hojlund’s absence due to a hamstring injury will hurt Ten Hag’s options in attack, while Tyrell Malacia’s knee problem still keeps him out of contention, after missing out on the entire previous campaign. It remains to be seen what will happen to Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelöf, as they are all doubts for this encounter. Jonny Evans had to be taken off against Liverpool due to illness, but he is now in contention to start the FA Cup final rematch.
Form Guide
Manchester City are nominally hosts for this match, as the league champions and this will be the first match of the new season for them as well. During their pre-season, there were not too many things to learn from Pep Guardiola’s side. City lost 3-4 to Celtic and 2-3 to Milan, before getting a 2-2 draw against Barcelona, which they then lost in the penalty shoot-out. In all of these matches, Guardiola’s side played with a drastically changed starting XI from the one we will see on Saturday. From the usual starters, we only got to see Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish, the two players who did not feature at the European Championship, while Mateo Kovacic later on also was a starter in some games. Last weekend, City had a friendly against Chelsea, which they easily won 4-2 after going four goals up after 56 minutes. Haaland scored a hat-trick in this one, but this was still a drastically changed starting XI from Pep Guardiola.
As for Manchester United, things were better in terms of results, but that will not have any impact on the season this team might have. Man United lost 1-0 to Rosenborg, before beating Rangers 2-0. Arsenal defeated the Devils 2-1 before United won the match on penalties (the beauty of friendlies), and then Erik Ten Hag’s side defeated Real Betis 3-2. In the final pre-season friendly match, the things were not so great for United, as Liverpool won 3-0 in South Carolina, defeating a not-so-much changed Ten Hag’s side.
Predicted Outcome
We assume a tight game as both sides are still far away from where they want to be this season, but our prediction is Manchester City will be lucky enough to beat Manchester United 1-0.
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