The competition for the Community Shield is this season between Liverpool and Manchester City. The Manchester club won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup last season, with the result that the number two of last season, Liverpool, is the opponent on Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool:
Liverpool has been in the Champions League final for the past two seasons and last year the billiard ball was also won by The Reds. Nevertheless, the Liverpool supporters yearn for success in their own country. The last time Liverpool could win a prize on English soil dates back to the year 2012. At the time, Liverpool won the League Cup with Kenny Dalglish as trainer, but the Liverpool supporters naturally yearn for the first Premier League title. The Reds became champions for the last time in 1990 and only one point behind Manchester City last season.
With Harvey Elliott (Fulham) and Sepp van den Berg (PEC Zwolle), things remained calm at Liverpool this summer. Nor is it expected that The Reds will be throwing money in the coming days. Elliot, the youngest Premier League-debutant ever, and Van den Berg are only short of catching up directly with Liverpool’s high level, the preparation showed. Jürgen Klopp is not at all satisfied with the preparation of Liverpool and according to the German may therefore not expect much from Liverpool in the match for the Community Shield. The Reds ended their preparation on Wednesday-evening with a 3-1 win over Olympique Lyonnais, while losing at an earlier stage to Borussia Dortmund (2-3), Sevilla (1-2) and Napoli (0-3). So there was little reason for joy at Klopp, who has to miss Nathaniel Clyne against Manchester City because of an injury and Sadio Mané is still on holiday and is therefore not among them.
Manchester City:
Where Liverpool is yearning for the Premier League title and would love to trade for the Champions League cup, the opposite is true at Manchester City. The Citizens have been Premier League champions for the past two seasons but President Khaldoon Al Mubarak is yearning for a Champions League victory. Last season, The Citizens were surprised by Tottenham Hotspur in the quarterfinals of the European club tournament, and exactly the same happened to Liverpool a year earlier. Of course Pep Guardiola is partly judged this season by the success of Manchester City in competition, but the Spaniard also knows that winning the Champions League is even more important than a third title in a row.
With Rodri (Atlético Madrid), Angeliño (PSV) and Zack Steffen (Colombus Crew), Manchester City bought three players during this transfer period. Rodri is a direct reinforcement for the Guardiola formation, while Rodri’s countryman Angeliño also has the potential to grow into the first left back of The Citizens. In the English media, however, the last few weeks were not about the acquisitions of Manchester City. In England it is only about a possible departure from Leroy Sané to Bayern Munich. For the time being, demand (around € 150 million) and supply (€ 100 million) are still very far apart and at Manchester City they are not going to let the German superstar go for an apple and an egg. Will undoubtedly be continued in the coming period. The preparation of The Citizens went much better than that of Liverpool, as Manchester City did not lose a match within the regular time. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers was too strong for The Citizens in Shanghai after penalties.
PREDICTION: Manchester City to win @ 1,90
