Both teams had to wait till the last day of last season to know where the trophy was headed, and they are both starting from where they stopped the last time
As Liverpool attempted the unthinkable last season and competed on four fronts up until the end, Manchester City glossed over their European disappointment by completing a home run in the league.
The Reds, pushed on by their German manager, Jurgen Klopp pushed till the end of the season, and ended up winning two domestic trophies, defeating Chelsea on both occasions, losing the Champions League final and also conceding the title on the final day of the season.
Their place in history, however has remained unblemished and against their fiercest rivals in the league, Manchester City in the Community Shield, Liverpool will be looking to do a first.
The Community Shield is often considered what sets the tone for the season, and with the upcoming game involving two of football’s fiercest rivals at the moment, fireworks are expected.
Both Manchester City and Liverpool don’t have an impressive recent history in the Community Shield with Liverpool yet to win it under Klopp. They lost to Man City in 2019 and Arsenal a year later.
The Citizens lost in 2021 to Leicester City and will be hoping to do better against a rival they naturally will not want to lose against anywhere.
“It’s another chance to win silverware and we haven’t won it before,” Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson told the team’s press.
“So of course we want to go there and we want to win the game and we want to win the trophy.
“We’ll do everything in our power to do that and hopefully it puts us in good stead going into the Premier League season the week after.”
Guardiola also said he sees the game as the perfect one for new players and added it will be a nice morale lifter for the team.
“Yeah, for us a title to win it is better, better than losing,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“It is good for City. not just for the players. For all of us,” the Spaniard said.
Manchester City have lost Olek Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal and Raheem Sterling to Chelsea during the ongoing transfer window but have done decent business in their acquisitions.
Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland joined Man City in a £65m deal while Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips also joined the Citizens.
Other signings were Julian Alvarez, Stefan Moreno Ortega.
Liverpool also splashed huge cash on Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez, with £80m coughed out to get the player from Benfica. While they lost Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich, they were able to convince Mohamed Salah to a new contract in Anfield.
During the preseason, Klopp has used 36 players across five games while Guardiola has used 21 players in two games. Both teams have indicated their approach to preseason but the Community Shield will further tell what their plans are for the season.
Guardiola revealed during his Press Conference ahead of the game that Aymeric Laporte has been ruled out of the game as he underwent a knee surgery.
Other players in the team are fit for the Community Shield with starting berth expected to be handed to Haaland and Alvarez.
Liverpool will be without their first two goalkeepers with Alisson Becker and Caomihin Kelleher also injured. This leaves the team with just Adrian to call on for the game.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also been ruled out of the game.
Both teams will square up against each other at 5:00 p.m WAT.
Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen has turned down an approach from Turkish rivals Fenerbahce, making it… Read More