City’s No. 9 joined this summer from Borussia Dortmund and makes his debut proper having started our friendly against Bayern Munich in Green Bay last week.
Kyle Walker, who came on in the second half of the Bayern game, starts this one, with Joao Cancelo moving to left-back. Josh Wilson-Esbrand moves to the bench.
City’s midfield and attack is unchanged from the game at Lambeau Field.
Teams
Liverpool
XI: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Diaz, Salah, Firmino
SUBS: Davies, Gomez, Konate, Milner, Keita, Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Carvalho
City
XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Stones, Gundogan, Alvarez, Foden, Mbete, Palmer, Wilson-Esbrand
Tactics
4-3-3 for City today, with Erling Haaland the focal point in attack.
Ederson starts in goal, with his distribution a vital aspect of City’s build-up play.
Ruben Dias, who captains the side, will form a centre-back partnership with Nathan Ake.
Kyle Walker starts on the right-hand side, with Joao Cancelo on the left. Two of the finest attacking full-backs in world football, their desire to get forward and supplement attacks will be key for City.
Rodrigo will play as the holding midfielder, with the energy of Bernardo Silva and guile of Kevin De Bruyne just ahead of him. It’s a midfield containing a perfect blend of attributes.
Riyad Mahrez will play on the right of City’s attack, with Jack Grealish, so impressive in the US, on the right, and Haaland will play as a central striker. Grealish and Haaland will be looking to continue the linkup play they produced in the win over Bayern Munich in Green Bay.
Haaland provides City with a significant physical presence through the middle, but in his pre-match press conference Pep Guardiola made it clear he expects his strikers to drop deep and get on the ball.
After a summer of change for City, this could be a very exciting season.
Preseason preparations
Two games, two wins.
City’s US Tour was hugely impressive and provided Pep Guardiola with a week of intensive training designed to turbocharge preparations for the new season.
The quality of the football we produced against Club America was, at times, very good – but it was the following game against Bayern Munich that saw City really turn on the style.
The pace and intensity of our attacking game was better than expected and suggests we can make a fast start when the Premier League gets under way next weekend, with our first assignment a trip to West Ham on Sunday.
More of the same today and we stand a real chance of winning the Community Shield.
Good omen?
The last time the Community Shield took place outside of Wembley was back in 2012, when City beat Chelsea 3-2 at Villa Park.
A repeat today in Leicester would be the perfect boost ahead of our Premier League opener next weekend.
Match stats
● This is just the second Community Shield game between Manchester City and Liverpool, with the Citizens winning on penalties in 2019 following a 1-1 draw in the other.
● Both teams have scored in eight of the last nine meetings between Man City and Liverpool in all competitions, including each of the last five in a row. In the three games between the sides last season, both teams scored at least twice each time (2x 2-2 draws, and a 3-2 win for Liverpool).
● This is the first time the Community Shield has been held outside of Wembley since 2012, when Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-2 at Villa Park. This will be the second time the match has been played in Leicester, with the other such match also featuring Liverpool (lost 1-0 to Leicester City at Filbert Street in 1971).
● Including occasions when the trophy was shared, only Manchester United (21) and Arsenal (16) have won the Community Shield more often than Liverpool (15).
● This will be the first time the Community Shield match has been played outside of August since 1958, when Bolton beat Wolves 4-1 in October. Meanwhile, it’s the earliest in a calendar year the match has taken place since 1922, when Huddersfield beat Liverpool 1-0 that May.
● Six of the last seven Community Shield matches between the league champions and FA Cup winners have been won by the FA Cup holders, with the exception being Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2018.
● Manchester City have triumphed in three of their last five Community Shield appearances, though they did lose 1-0 against Leicester last season. If Liverpool win, it will follow a pattern from the last few years of teams losing consecutive Community Shield games, with Chelsea doing so in 2017 and 2018, and Liverpool following suit in 2019 and 2020.
● Liverpool have lost four of their last six Community Shield appearances, including each of the last two via penalty shootout (v Man City in 2019 and Arsenal in 2020). Their two wins in this run, however, have been their last two appearances as FA Cup winners (v Man Utd in 2001 and Chelsea in 2006).
● Manchester City’s Phil Foden has been involved in five goals in his five starts against Liverpool in all competitions (3 goals, 2 assists), though he hasn’t registered a goal or assist in his last two against them.
● Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been involved in 11 goals in 14 appearances against Man City in all competitions for the Reds (7 goals, 4 assists) – only against West Ham (12) has the Egyptian been involved in more.
● Under Jürgen Klopp (and excluding Anfield), Liverpool have lost more games at the King Power Stadium than they have at any other venue in all competitions (5).
