Man City vs Chelsea
Venue: Wembley
Kick off: 3pm
Manchester City will do battle with Chelsea in the traditional curtain-raiser for the new Premier League season when they face off in the Community Shield this afternoon.
The English champions are looking to push on from a record-breaking campaign last time out, as they take on a Blues side embarking on a new chapter under Maurizio Sarri.
To say Chelsea have become a Yo-Yo club in recent years would be an understatement.
The West London outfit did, after all, go from winning the title one year to finishing down in 10th place the next, before picking themselves up to once again come out on top in 2016-17.
The inability to mount a serious title defence continued last season as Antonio Conte’s men failed to so much as make the top four, meaning that Roman Abramovich was left with little choice but to swing the axe earlier this summer.
Even accounting for the Blues’ FA Cup success on the final day of the domestic campaign, life under Conte had become stale and it is now down to Sarri to rejuvenate the players available to him.
The late change in manager – a direct result of Chelsea needing to agree a compensation package with Conte and legal fees with Napoli for Sarri – has led to a disjointed pre-season of sorts, not helped by the absence of key men Thibaut Courtois, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Willian.
All four players were given an extended rest following their World Cup exploits, although the latter has now returned to training, albeit five days after he was initially due to report back – a passport blunder allegedly being to blame for that mishap.
Today’s Community Shield presents Sarri with another chance to experiment with different options before welcoming back the likes of Willian, Courtois, Kante and Hazard, although whether any of the quartet will be ready for the Premier League opener against Huddersfield Town next week remains to be seen.
Much is however expected of Man City this season, the Citizens finished a massive 19 points clear of runners-up Manchester United, while this weekend’s opponents ended 30 points worse off in a lowly fifth place.
Surprisingly, though, Riyad Mahrez has been the only new senior arrival at the Etihad Stadium during the off-season, with the £60m capture finally going through last month following plenty of speculation since the turn of the year.
Pep Guardiola missed out on top midfield target Jorginho to Chelsea and, if reports are to be believed, the Catalan will not be bringing in any new players between now and the end of the transfer window.
The Community Shield presents supporters with a chance to formulate predictions for the season ahead, but in City’s case it is probably best to wait until a few weeks in – when their starting lineup looks more familiar to the one that stormed to the title – before coming to any conclusions.
The inability to mount a serious title defence continued last season as Antonio Conte’s men failed to so much as make the top four, meaning that Roman Abramovich was left with little choice but to swing the axe earlier this summer.
Even accounting for the Blues’ FA Cup success on the final day of the domestic campaign, life under Conte had become stale and it is now down to Sarri to rejuvenate the players available to him.
The late change in manager – a direct result of Chelsea needing to agree a compensation package with Conte and legal fees with Napoli for Sarri – has led to a disjointed pre-season of sorts, not helped by the absence of key men Thibaut Courtois, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Willian.
All four players were given an extended rest following their World Cup exploits, although the latter has now returned to training, albeit five days after he was initially due to report back – a passport blunder allegedly being to blame for that mishap.
Today’s Community Shield presents Sarri with another chance to experiment with different options before welcoming back the likes of Willian, Courtois, Kante and Hazard, although whether any of the quartet will be ready for the Premier League opener against Huddersfield Town next week remains to be seen.
Much is however expected of Man City this season, the Citizens finished a massive 19 points clear of runners-up Manchester United, while this weekend’s opponents ended 30 points worse off in a lowly fifth place.
Surprisingly, though, Riyad Mahrez has been the only new senior arrival at the Etihad Stadium during the off-season, with the £60m capture finally going through last month following plenty of speculation since the turn of the year.
Pep Guardiola missed out on top midfield target Jorginho to Chelsea and, if reports are to be believed, the Catalan will not be bringing in any new players between now and the end of the transfer window.
The Community Shield presents supporters with a chance to formulate predictions for the season ahead, but in City’s case it is probably best to wait until a few weeks in – when their starting lineup looks more familiar to the one that stormed to the title – before coming to any conclusions.
Man City possible XI: Bravo; Bolton, Denayer, Laporte, Zinchenko; Foden, Brahim Diaz, Gomes; B.Silva, Nmecha, Sane.
Chelsea possible XI: Bulka; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Alonso; Fabregas, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Morata, Hudson-Odoi.
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