Community Shield: Manchester City vs Manchester United Predictions
All eyes will on Wembley Stadium this Saturday for the Community Shield when fierce rivals Manchester City and Manchester United clash for the 194th time.
The annual season curtain-raiser has not been a happy one for City in recent years but there is the added incentive that the 2024 edition will be a Manchester derby, which should add some spice to the fixture.
Team news
City are likely to be without Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones, with the quartet yet to report to first-team training, while Stefan Ortega could start in goal as Ederson is struggling with a niggle.
There is better news for the Citizens, who should have Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and summer signing Savio all involved.
United’s summer arrival Leny Yoro is out with ทางเข้า ufabet https://ufabet999.app a foot injury that is expected to keep him sidelined until November, while Rasmus Hojlund and Tyrell Malacia are also unavailable.
Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw are all doubtful and will be assessed closer to kick-off, but Jonny Evans should have recovered from the illness that forced him off in the friendly defeat to Liverpool.
Another new signing, Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee ,has taken part in training this week and is in line for his debut.
The stats
City lost the Community Shield for the third year in a row last season, going down 4-1 on penalties to Arsenal, but they did end up lifting the Premier League trophy for an unprecedented fourth successive time.
Saturday’s contest will be the sixth time in seven years that the Citizens have contested the traditional curtain-raiser, with their last victory coming back in 2019.
United are record 21-time Community Shield winners. But this is the first time they have competed in this match since 2016. When they edged past Leicester 2-1 at Wembley Stadium.
The Red Devils won the last meeting between these two great rivals, triumphing 2-1 in the 2023-24 FA Cup final and ending a three-game losing streak against the Citizens.
United lead the head-to-head record with 79 wins compared to City’s 61, with the pair drawing 53 times.
Prediction
United have big defensive problems heading into this clash, with star signing Yoro sideline and he could join on the sidelines by Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka and Shaw.
Erik ten Hag could left short at the back and, with City’s plethora of attacking options. Which includes the likes of Erling Haaland, De Bruyne, Doku and Silva, this could spell trouble for the Red Devils.