This weekend, the traditional opener of the new Premier League season will take place at Wembley Stadium as Premier League Champions Manchester City take on last season’s FA Cup winners, Leicester City in the Community Shield.
The teams met twice last season, Leicester running out 5-2 winners at the Etihad Stadium but then Manchester City were 2-0 winners in the return game at the Foxes King Power Stadium in April.
Having secured Leicester’s first-ever FA Cup victory last season, Brendan Rodgers will be hoping his team can upset the odds to land a second trophy at Wembley in successive games at the national stadium.
City meanwhile will be hoping to banish memories of their Champions League Final defeat to Chelsea by claiming the trophy that they won in successive years in 2018 and 2019.
There are plenty of great betting opportunities to enjoy on this game with bet365 Sport having a wealth of pre-match and In Play betting available on the game.
And if you live in the United States then you can find excellent soccer betting available throughout the season at BetRivers Sportsbook, which is available across a number of states.
Let’s now learn a little more about the Community Shield and how the tournament developed.
The Community Shield was originally called the Charity Shield and it was founded in 1908,
although there had been a number of ‘charity’ styled games between professional and amateur teams played before then.
In 1921, the competition was contested by the winners of the League and the FA Cup from the previous season for the first time, but in the 1920s, the format of the game changed frequently.
However, by 1930, the idea of a match between the Football League Winner and FA Cup Winner took hold and has remained, with very few exceptions through to the present day.
The fixture was moved to the start of the season in 1959. But even then, there were a number of years that the teams who qualified for the fixture, declined to take part.
In 1974, the FA secretary Ted Croker oversaw the game being switched to Wembley Stadium and cemented the format of the game and this made the fixture far more appealing for teams and fans.
From 1993, the Premier League Champions and FA Cup holders would contest the game and in 2002, the name of the tournament was changed from the Charity Shield to the Community Shield.
Manchester United have won the Shield the most times, with 17 outright wins and 4 shared. Arsenal are second with 15 outright wins and 1 shared while Liverpool are third with 10 outright wins and 5 shared.
Leicester City won the Shield in 1971 when they were invited to play in the game as Division 2 Champions against Liverpool, the FA Cup Runners Up after double winners Arsenal declined to take part. The Foxes won their first Community Shield before they won either the League (2016) or FA Cup (2021).
Arsenal are the current holders of the trophy having beaten Liverpool on penalties last season 5-4 after a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.
Pep Guardiola makes no bones about how important winning the Charity Shield is for him,
viewing the game as another major trophy to win. As such, he has tended to pick a very strong side for the games his team have played in the fixture and I don’t expect any difference this year.
City have been in the news of late for their potential signing of Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish as well as their interest in wantaway Tottenham striker Harry Kane. The deals more pressing now that Sergio Aguero has left the club to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
Those deals, if they happen, are not likely to be sorted in time for this fixture, so City will likely line up as they did towards the end of last season, perhaps even playing with Kevin De Bruyne in a false nine if they decide to play without a recognised striker.
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Attackers
Man City Probable XI – (4-3-3) – Ederson, Walker, Zinchenko, Dias, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, Sterling, Foden, Mahrez, De Bruyne
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has had a good summer, although there are rumours that
James Maddison is subject of a late £60m bid from Arsenal, which the Foxes have so far rejected according to reports.
Rodgers has added Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumare to his squad, with Ryan Bertrand also joining on a free transfer and all three are very good additions to what is already an impressive squad.
With Jamie Vardy still in fine goalscoring form, the Foxes have an abundance of attacking talent to pick from for this game, but I think Rodgers may well stick with the majority of the team that led them to FA Cup success last season.
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Attackers
Leicester City Probable Team – (4-2-3-1) – Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Castagne, Soyuncu, Evans, Soumare, Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
I do feel that both these teams are going to be involved in the battle for the top six places in
the Premier League once again and even though they have lost Sergio Aguero, I still feel that Manchester City are the stronger of the two teams. As such, I am expecting them to win the game inside 90 minutes.
That said, Leicester have given City a few problems in recent fixtures, so this will not be an easy win for Pep Guardiola’s team who I am backing to win by the odd goal in three.
All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing.
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