FA Cup winner Chelsea and Dutch champion Manchester City compete for the Community Shield on Sunday afternoon. At Wembley, the season in England is officially started, but both Chelsea and Manchester City are missing a number of trendsetters on Sunday because of the World Championship.
Chelsea:
For Chelsea, a new season also means a new trainer. Last year it did not go well with Chelsea under Antonio Conte and the Italian was fired a month ago. The substitute for Conte also comes from Italy, as from this season on Maurizio Sarri will take the honors at Stamford Bridge. Sarri comes over from Napoli and has to swing Chelsea on Stamford Bridge, because last year’s supporters of The Blues were very dissatisfied with Conte’s style of playing. Sarri played attractive football last season with Napoli and the Italian is already seen in England as the second Pep Guardiola. Whether Sarri can play with this Chelsea just like he did last season at Napoli, of course, has to be confirmed, because the reality is that Chelsea has hardly undergone any metamorphosis this summer when it comes to transfers.
With Jorginho (Napoli) and Robert Green (Huddersfield Town), Chelsea has only recently attracted two new players. Green becomes third goalkeeper at The Blues and we can not expect anything from that, but the question is whether attracting Jorginho will immediately ensure that Chelsea will compete again for the championship. Sarri would like to play in a 4-3-3 formation this season with Chelsea, while The Blues had to collect 38 league goals last season in a 5-3-2 formation. In addition, The Blues can also use reinforcements in an attacking way, because last season it turned out that Eden Hazard can not pull the cart on its own. The Belgian is not there on Sunday, because Hazard enjoys a few days off because of the World Cup, just like Thibaut Courtois, N’Golo Kanté and Olivier Giroud.
Manchester City:
Champion Manchester City, like Chelsea, is of course not waiting for a competition for the Community Shield. A lot of players from The Citizens were active in Russia a few weeks ago and for clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea the Community Shield is not really a price that makes them hot or cold. Nonetheless, Guardiola will want to win the Community Shield, because it still falls short of its honors list. However, at Manchester City this season is not a Community Shield or winning the FA Cup, but success has to be achieved in both the Premier League and the Champions League. The first one succeeded last season – The Citizens gained even a hundred points – reasonably easy. In the Champions League, however, Manchester City let itself be blown away by Liverpool and so the club from the blue and white part of Manchester this season is on revenge.
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour has so far thrown little with oil dollars during this transfer period. Riyad Mahrez was taken over from Leicester City for sixty million pounds and Mahrez is of course a great asset to The Citizens. Guardiola can now choose on the flanks from players like Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sané and Mahrez so the competition is huge on the flank at Manchester City. For the rest, Manchester City kept quietly on the transfer market, which closes on Thursday in England, but there is almost no reason for Manchester City to throw money. Guardiola’s squad already stood as a home last season and there are sometimes players on the bench who would just be in the starting line at many top clubs. Against Chelsea there will be a number of youth players on the bank of The Citizens, because even at Manchester City they will not appeal to a select group of World Cup leaders this weekend.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.58
