Saturday brings the Community Shield when Liverpool FC (Premier League champions) will go against Arsenal FC(FA Cup winners) at Wembley Satdium in London. It’s the fourth all-time in the Community Shield meeting between the two sides, and a trophy is indeed at stake.
It’s the 2020/21 campaign curtain raiser, some say. Others call it a preseason match, while others still refer to it as a glorified friendly. The Reds will be playing in this match for the second-straight time while Arsenal are making their fourth appearance in seven seasons.
Both clubs are 15-time winners of this specific piece of silverware, so it’ll be sweet 16 for one of the sides when all is said and done. Let’s preview the Arsenal team news.
Community Shield FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, August 29, 11:30am ET Wembley Stadium, London
Arsenal starting XI prediction: go to this link
Liverpool FC Team News, Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Odds: Liverpool -148, Arsenal +375, Draw into shootout +310
Takeaways from Mikel Arteta’s Press Conference today: go to this link
Central defender William Saliba is expected to make his Gunners debut after signing for the club last summer, but remaining with Saint-Etienne in France on loan. If/when Arsenal get the Gabriel deal over the line, they’ll have their central defense pairing for the future lined up.
Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring), Pablo Mari (ankle) and Calum Chambers (knee) are all expected to miss this one.
Prediction: Liverpool 2, Arsenal 0
The Reds will come into this one with more rest and eager to try and duplicate the dominant form they displayed last season. While the Gunners finished strong, the Reds took care of business early in the season, and then kind of just coasted a little to the finish line.
We’ll just have to see who’s really more interested.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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