Manchester City v Liverpool
Sunday 4th August 1500hrs
Football – England – Community Shield
Pick Manchester City
Bookmaker Bet Victor
Odds: 19/20 (odds taken 22.00 GMT, Friday 2 August)
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19/20 | 14/5 | 11/4 |
* (Betting Odds were taken from 22Bet on August 2, 2019 at 22.00)
The Community Shield is not everybody’s favourite game but it remains the traditional curtain-raiser of the English season. It should be a treat in store on Sunday as Premier League champions Manchester City face European Champions Liverpool.
Community Shield Betting at Bet Victor
Manchester City Preview – Are City going to continue domination of English football?
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City achieved a clean sweep of domestic trophies in England last season. As such, they become the first ever men’s team to win a domestic treble – securing the Premier League, EFL Cup and FA Cup. The major disappointment was, once again, failure to conquer Europe having been knocked out at the quarterfinal of the Champions League. Despite that being a major objective for the club, perhaps the biggest, their domestic dominance and consistency should not be overlooked. City will come in to this season aiming to become just the second team in Premier League history to win three consecutive titles. Rivals Manchester United have managed it twice. If City can achieve it, it would underline this period as being their era.
Guardiola, as ever, has been selective in his recruitment. With just under a week to go of the transfer window City have brought in three first team players. The most notable of these is Spanish midfielder Rodri from Atletico Madrid. A right back continues to evade them, however, and it will be a race against time now to bring somebody in. Kevin de Bruyne has been excellent in pre-season and the Belgian will be like a new signing in many ways – having missed so much of last season with injuries.
Liverpool Preview – Will Liverpool finally get the better of City in a domestic competition?
Liverpool will head into the start of the 2019/20 season still searching for a Premier League title. They could not have come much closer than last season, though, following a fantastic battle with City. It was an effort that came up just short for Jurgen Klopp and his team but they could barely have done much more. The Anfield club were able to celebrate their first major trophy in seven years when winning the Champions League. It was their second successive appearance in the final and a 2-0 win over Tottenham meant they were victorious this time around. It also established Liverpool as one of the very best clubs in Europe.
The Red’s early pre-season prep was hampered with their star front three playing in International competitions over the summer. Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were all competing for their countries. Firmino and Salah have returned in the last week and should play some part which instantly makes Liverpool a lot stronger. Mane has been given extra-time off following Senegal reaching the final of the AFCON.
Key-Facts – Manchester City v Liverpool
- Manchester City retained their league title last season and completed the treble by winning both cups
- Liverpool ended a seven year wait when triumphant in the Champions League final – it was also Jurgen Klopp’s first trophy in charge
- City won the Community Shield for just the third time in their history last season, beating Chelsea 2-0
Manchester City v Liverpool Betting Advice
These two teams dominated English football last season and you would be naive to think it won’t be the same again in the campaign ahead. Guardiola and Klopp are the two most impressive coaches in the Premier League and their personalities are well ingrained on their respective teams. This competition is not a priority for them but it’s the last chance of action before the proper competitive starts. As such, we can expect to see two very strong starting teams taking the field.
City and Liverpool gave us one of the closest titles races there has been in Premier League history last year. That went down to the final day but it’s unlikely we’ll see such a dramatic end to this weekend’s game. Both have shown their quality at certain stages of pre-season and they have played a lot. That should ensure the two sets of players are sharp for this contest.
There was only a point between these teams after 38 league games and both meetings were very close. It could well be the same this term but City appear stronger at the moment and having a near-fully fit squad to choose from at this stage could prove the difference.
