Happy Community Shield Eve Eve. Domestic treble winners Manchester City will tangle with European champions Liverpool FC at the national stadium this weekend in the season’s curtain raiser. The Community Shield kicks off Sunday, August 4, 2019 (8/4/19) at Wembley Stadium in London, England, at 10 a.m. EDT.
Is it a less than meaningful friendly? A high intensity trophy game? Something else entirely, residing somewhere in the middle? Well, it’s all in the eye of the beholder, but we have everything you need to know in this preview guide right here.
For the Liverpool and Manchester City Starting XI and final score predictions, go to this link. For the prematch news conferences with both managers, scroll down.
Liverpool Team News
Defender Nathaniel Clyne will not feature after picking up an anterior cruciate ligament injury this preseason. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has described it as a “straightforward” ruptured ACL, meaning that he’s going to be out for a very long time.
Meanwhile midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (calf) and Naby Keita (thigh) are now back in training after missing the beginning of preseason due to injuries.
In explaining why Liverpool have had such a quiet transfer window, Klopp said earlier this summer that Rhian Brewster (knee and ankle) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (ACL) are de facto new players because they are now fit after having had to endure extremely long spells on the sidelines last season. Expect to see them see major minutes on Sunday.
Manchester City Team News
City manager Pep Guardiola gave the following fitness update today at his news conference:
“Except Fernandinho, everybody is back. Today arrived the last two: Ederson and Mahrez and two days ago, Aguero, Otamendi and Gabriel Jesus came back. Benjamin Mendy came back two or three days ago. He tried to train with the team. Hopefully, next week he will be with us.”
He also gave some clues into how he might rotate his squad in the Shield:
“The physical condition of the squad is not the best. We will try to play with players who played minutes in pre-season because they have rhythm and they know the situation.”
“The guys who came back later maybe will have a few minutes on Sunday.”
“There are more chances of substitutions. I think it will be hot in London. Every week, our condition will be better. I think we will play at a high intensity on Sunday – a good level.”
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 appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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