Tomorrow’s Community Shield match, the traditional curtain-raiser for the English Premier League, sees familiar foes – Manchester City taking on neighbours Manchester United – but the question on everyone’s lips is: “Who’s fit to play?”
Following their gruelling United States tour, United has returned to England with several injuries, notably to their summer signing, Leny Yoro, with the young defender ruled out for three months.
There are also doubts surrounding fellow defenders – Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, Luke Shaw, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka – while Lisandro Martínez has just resumed training following Argentina’s Copa América victory.
United boss Erik ten Hag’s two senior defenders, who are sure to start the match tomorrow (10pm, Malaysian time), are Jonny Evans and Diogo Dalot. The Dutchman could be forced to use up-and-coming talents such as Rhys Bennett and Harry Amass in defence.
Ten Hag’s counterpart, Pep Guardiola, also has problems as he could be without up to 13 players for the Wembley showdown.
Englishmen Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and John Stones, along with Spaniard Rodri, joined training after their exploits in the Euro 2024 final, which saw Spain beat England 2-1 in the final.
Another eight players – Savinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Aké, Manu Akanji, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Matheus Nunes, and Jérémy Doku – returned to Manchester last week.
City has also agreed to sell Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid, which means from the starting XI that faced United in last season’s FA Cup final, only Stefan Ortega, Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovačić, and Erling Haaland are likely to play in the Community Shield.
The good news for City is that Jack Grealish looked sharp in pre-season and will pull the strings in midfield.
United has won a record 21 Community Shields – previously called the Charity Shield. City has six wins and has lost the last three matches it contested to Leicester, Liverpool, and Arsenal.
There will be no extra time if the match ends in a draw after 90 minutes, and it will be decided on penalties.
City, the first side to win England’s top-flight title for four consecutive seasons, is the bookmakers’ favourite to make it five on the trot, while United hope to improve on their dismal eighth-placed finish.
The EPL kicks off next week, with United facing Fulham in the opening fixture on Aug 17 (3am).
Image: Manchester City FC
