Pep Guardiola: "We are really pleased"
“I enjoyed the season against our rival in Manchester and to start the season with a title is good. We are really pleased,” says the Manchester City boss in a chat with ITV.
“We lost a lot of balls, after transitions they are one of the best teams in the world. They are so dangerous to control. But in the end we did it. It is nice to play this game because it means you won something in the previous season.
“Now we see how the players come back. The target now is not to win the Premier League, it is ‘OK next game try and win it’. This is what we have to do.”
Erik Ten Hag: "We have to take this"
“Yes, definitely,” says the Manchester United boss upon being asked by ITV if that’s a tough result to take. “When the performance is right, we are winning in the game and the penalties as well, if you go on to lose everyone feels it. It hurts in your stomach but we have to take this.
“You have to hurt because the pain will drive us and give us motivation to do better. What positives we can take out of this is that we can compete with City and we have to take this into the league.”
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Oscar Bobb: "The belief was key"
“It’s a great feeling, it’s the first time we’ve won it in two, three … four [it’s five] and to do it with a young group is great,” says the City winger in an interview with ITV.
“The belief was key, all the way through we had it and kept going, we didn’t get too downbeat [when United scored] and it came.
“I thought it was going to be Erling [on the end of my cross], but Bernie is a great header of the ball. It’s another trophy and a great start to the season. It gives us a lot of confidence, no negatives.”
Man City 1-1 Man United (7-6 on pens)
Match report: Substitutes Alejandro Garnacho and Bernardo Silva traded late goals in a generally forgettable encounter but it was fitting that a shootout was the deciding metric as Manchester City won the Community Shield for the first time in five years. Will Unwin reports from Wembley …
The trophy lift: Manchester City’s players climb the Wembley steps and are presented with their medals before the Community Shield is presented to Kevin De Bruyne by Mike Summerbee. The Belgian hoists it towards the heavens as a rousing rendition of Blue Moon blares out over the PA.
Ruben Dias: “Obviously it feels great to start the season winning,” says City’s captain in an on-field interview conducted for the benfit of the City fans. “We have lost here in the last three years.”
“We’re happy to start the season in the way we have and obviously there’s a lot to come. It’s another trophy and we’re always happy to collect trophies. We’ve just had a long season and we still don’t have a full squad back but it is very good for us to start this way.
“It’s very different circumstances to the FA Cup final but it’s a final and we love to win finals. The way we played, conceding a goal but then to make it 1-1, I’m very proud of all of us and very happy with the win.
“Thank you for coming, this is very special for us and we know what this means to you. It’s for them [the fans] why we’re here.”
Manuel Akanji: The Swiss international missed the last penalty he took in a Euro 2024 shootout against England in the summer and while scoring the decisive one here is unlikely to make up for that disappointment, he’s happy he got it.
“I let the others shoot first because obviously when you miss your last penalty you don’t go with so much confidence into the next one,” he tells ITV. “I had a good feeling.
“Maybe if I didn’t take it I would have had to wait even longer if somebody else had missed in front of me. I tried it yesterday in training and told Eddie I was going to go down the middle and it went in.”
On Ederson’s penalty: “He’s probably the best penalty-taker in our team … maybe Erling as well. I haven’t seen him miss for us and I know when he takes a penalty it’s going to be a goal.”
Manchester City win: Pep Guardiola’s side triumph 7-6 on penalties following a match that both managers and sets of fans will take plenty of positives from. Or negatives, depending on their mindsets.
The post-match celebrations are understandably low key but a significant number of City fans have hung around for the trophy lift compared to their United counterparts, who have quickly vacated the stadium.
Man City win the Community Shield
Manuel Akanji scores! And Manchester City have prevailed in an entertaining shootout that followed a decent game at Wembley.
Man United 6-6 Man City
Penalty shootout: Oh dear! Jonny Evans shanks his effort over the bar. He was leaning backwards as he tried to go down the middle. Over to you, Manuel Akanji.
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Man United 6-6 Man City
Penalty shootout: Ruben Dias strokes the ball into the bottom corner after Onana went too early.
Man United 6-5 Man City
Penalty shootout: Lisandro Martinez makes no mistake and United are in front again.
Man United 5-5 Man City
Penalty shootout: Boom! Matheus Nunes rifles one into the top corner.
Man United 5-4 Man City
Penalty shootout: Scott McTominay scores into the bottom corner, the ball curling away from Ederson.
Man United 4-4 Man City
Penalty shootout: Ederson takes one and sends his opposite number the wrong way.
Man United 4-3 Man City
Penalty shootout: Casemiro score past his compatriot Ederson, sending him the wrong way.
Man United 3-3 Man City
Penalty shootout: Savinho scores for City and we’re into sudden death.
Man United 3-2 Man City
Penalty shootout: Jadon Sancho is denied by a fine save by Ederson, who gets a strong right- hand to the ball.
Man United 3-2 Man City
Penalty shootout: Erling Haaland scores, despite the best attempts of Onana to put him off by pointing to which side of the goal he’d like the Norwegian to put it.
Man United 3-1 Man City
Penalty shootout: Alejandro Garnacho curls a shot into the left side-netting. Excellent spot-kick.
Man United 2-1 Man City
Penalty shootout: Kevin De Bruyne hit the bar this time last year but makes no mistake this time.
Man United 2-0 Man City
Penalty shootout: Ederson gets a glove on the ball but can’t Diogo Dalot’s powerful shot out.
Man United 1-0 Man City
Penalty shootout: It’s a poor effort lacking in conviction from Bernardo Silva and Andre Onana saves.
Man United 1-0 Man City
Penalty shootout: Bruno Fernandes sidefoots the ball into the corner, sending Ederson the wrong way.
Attendance watch: There are more than 78,000 brave souls in Wembley, which is a credit to the travelling support of both teams, given the non-importance of the fixture and the vagaries of rail travel when it comes to getting from Manchester to London at weekends.
Full time: Man City 1-1 Man United
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! Jarrad Gillett signals full-time with the scores level, which means we’ll have a penalty shootout to decide the outcome after Bernardo Silva’s header cancelled out Alejandro Garnacho’s opener.
90+4 min: Kovacic gallops upfield through the centre and plays the ball wide to Savinho. The ball finds its way to De Bruye, who curls a cross into the corridor of uncertainty between United’s goalkeeper and centre-backs. Andre Onana drops on it, snuffing out any danger.
90+2 min: We’re into five minutes of stoppage time and United have a free-kick wide on the right in a good position. Fernandes trots over to take it but his delivery is poor and fails to beat the first man.
90+1 min: City substitutions: Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake on for Oscar Bobb and Josko Gvardiol.
GOAL! Man City 1-1 Man United (Silva 89)
City equalise! Now Silva heads home at the far post, getting the better of Pellistri to convert a fine Oscar Bobb cross from six yards out.
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87 min: Only on the field a couple of minutes, Bernardo Silva has been booked for a complete unnecessary, very late challenge on Alejandro Garnacho.
84 min: Jadon Sancho’s return to the United fold after last season’s unedifying dispute with Erik Ten Hag is rubberstamped. He’s on for Marcus Rashford, who has had a disappointing afternoon at the Wembley office.
83 min: Garnacho has been desperately trying to make things happen since coming on and on this occasion decided he couldn’t rely on any of his teammates and would take care of business himself. It was an excellent solo goal.
GOAL! Man City 0-1 Man United (Garnacho 82)
United lead! Garnacho picks up the ball on the inside right, cuts inside, continues to cut inside and sends a left-footed shot from 18 yards into the bottom right-hand corner.
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81 min: City substitution: Bernardo Silva on, James McAtee off.
79 min: The ball’s lofted towards Rashford at the far post and his downward header sits up beautifully for McTominay on the edge of the six-yard box. The Scot swings his right boot at the ball and misses it completely. Oh dear.
77 min: We’ve had a shot from both sides hit the woodwork, not to mention a disallowed goal, but the stats show that neither side has mustered a shot on target. It’s been a reasonably entertaining game all things considered and now Manchester United have a corner won by Garnacho.
75 min: With the City goal at his mercy following an excellent move by Manchester United, Marcus Rashford runs on to a squared ball from Alejandro Garnacho and shins a poor shot off the outside of the left post.
73 min: “Despite a disastrous and I would argue desperately unlucky loan spell at West Ham, could the answer to United defensive midfield problems be currently languishing on the city bench in the form of Kalvin Phillips?” asks John Magee. “The talent is there. Confidence needs a reboot.”
I’m not sure what will happen to Phillips but I hope he can reboot his career as he seems like a fine player and a lovely lad. Top match analyst and Football Weekly podcast regular, Lucy Ward, who was a sort of mother hen to him at the Leeds United acadamy in a previous life, speaks very highly of him indeed.
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71 min: United successfully defend another City corner and Gvardiol goes down after a mid-air collision with Jonny Evans, who attacked the ball and headed it clear. There’s a short break in play while the Croatian defender receives treatment.
68 min: Matheus Nunes gets booked for something or other – apologies, I’m not sure what. Savinho has looked very lively indeed since coming on for Doku, having a shot blocked and sending a very inviting ball into the United box trying to find Haaland. He also takes a decent corner from that left-hand side.
67 min: Despite Bruno’s disallowed worldie, we’re still waiting for our first official shot on target. A reminder that the game will go straight to penaties if the scores are level at the end of normal time.
66 min: Or “Savinho”, as it says in Comic Sans on the back of his shirt. We’ll go with that.
64 min: Manchester City double-substitution: Savio and Matheus Nunes on for Doku and O’Reilly.
61 min: It’s quite the rejig for United and as far as I can tell, Casemiro has moved back into central defence, with McTominay and Collyer playing in midfield. Rashford has moved into the centre of the front three, with Garnacho to his right and Fernandes to his left.
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58 min: Manchester City remain under the cosh and have to defend a United corner. They do so, prompting a raft of United substitutions.
Alejandro Garnacho, Toby Collyer, Facundo Pellistri and Scott McTominay come on, with Mount, Diallo, Mainoo and Maguire making way. It’s a senior debut for Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer.
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55 min: In a call-back to the match between Turkey and Portugal at the Euros, a small child tries to invade the pitch to join in Manchester United’s shortlived celebrations following Fernades’ disallowed goal. He’s quickly ushered away by stewards.
54 min: Bruno Fernandes runs on to a Martinez pass from deep and is clearly offside. The flag stays down, Fernades cuts inside Akanji and curls a shot into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area. Then the flag goes up.
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52 min: United are struggling to get their wingers into the game and the latest effort to play the ball wide to Rashford results in an overhit pass from deep going out for a Manchester CIty throw-in deep inside their own half.
Your annual reminder that the FA was legally forced to change the name of the Charity Shield to the Community Shield in 2002 after they failed to meet the minimum legal transparency requirements of how much money actually went to charities.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) August 10, 2024
47 min: United play the ball out from the back and Bruno Fernandes sends Rashford on his way down the left flank. He cuts inside but is unable to get a shot off before being dispossessed by Manuel Akanji. Good defending.
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Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
46 min: Ederson comes out for the second half, despite having incurred the not inconsiderable and very public wrath of his manager for booting the ball out of play with the final kick of the first half. In fact there are no changes in personnel on either side.
The funny font: “Is anybody else slightly distracted by City’s team names on the back of the shirt appearing to be in Comic Sans typeface?” asks Jeff Black. “Though it’s probably some trendy font that’s all the rage with graphic designers.”
Slightly distracted? Slightly? It is driving me around the bend.
An email: “Many players have struggled to internalise Pep’s ‘guidance’,” writes James Campbell, who tells me he is sipping a Russian Imperial stout in the Crooked Spider Brewpub, Wassenaar in the Netherlands. “It took Foden years to be trusted, but Pep persevered coz the innate talent is prodigious.
“Jack Grealish was my go-to player (after watching Man U, my team for 66 years and counting). I just loved him coming in from the left, just the idea of him bringing top left-backs into mental disarray. Then his head was turned and he became a Pepbot. Does anybody, these days, turn on the TV to watch Jack
“Back to poor Kalvin: not bright enough to learn Pep’s placing and patterns. Bielsa’s approach had no space for thinking: yhe knew exactly where to be and what to do. Ask yourself why Cancelo, every pundit’s wonder boy, couldn’t hack it at Bayer.”
You mean Bayern, right? Or else you’ve had one Russian Imperial stout too many.
Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
Half-time: A late call-up for referee John Brooks, who must have injured himself in the warm-up, Jarrad Gillett signals the end of a curate’s egg of a half. It was good in spots and both teams enjoyed periods of domination.
Neither side has managed a shot on target, although City midfielder James McAtee did hit the post with one effort, before Manchester United went close with a sweeping team move from deep in which they cut through the City defence like a hot knife through butter. Only a wayward final pass from Amad Diallo prevented Mason Mount from tapping home to give United the lead.
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45+1 min: “I’ve seen nothing to indicate that the gap between these two will be less than 25 points, specially when you know this is City’s B team,” writes Philip Haran. “The odd good move from MU but mostly dross.”
A lot of dross from both sides, I would argue, but I wouldn’t expect the gap to be less than 25 points either, unless Manchester City get a massive points deduction for some reason or other.
44 min: Erling Haaland, on the other hand, is having one of those games where you kind of forget he is on the pitch, only for him to be withdrawn after 75 minutes or provide a timely reminder in the form of a quick-fire hat-trick.
42 min: There’s a break in play so Casemiro can recieve treatment for an injury. My expectations were low but I’ve been impressed with him so far this afternoon. He’s been instrumental in a couple of very promising Manchester United attacks that should have resulted in shots on target if not goals.
41 min: “It’s on ESPN,” writes Graham Randall, who is unhappy with their camrea angle. “We have the most bizarre camera angle,” he says. “It’s very low and when straight ahead it is about 10 yards into the Man City half. It also seems to be non person operated.”
40 min: “It’s not showing here in the USA,” wails Linda Watson in an email accompanied by a crying face emoji.
39 min: Having bossed the opening 25 minutes, Manchester City have found themselves on the back foot over the past 15. Or 14, to be more precise.
38 min: Casemiro tees up Rashford for a shot but the United winger’s attempt to curl a shot around Ederson and inside the far post drifts harmlesly wide.
34 min: That was a wonderul move from United, with Amad Diallo at tyhe heart of it. He was a joy to watch on loan at Sunderland the season before last and clearly has what it takes to cut it at a higher level. Can he do it consistently? At the risk of stating the obvious, only time will tell.
31 min: Dalot robs Doku of the ball on the halfway line and sends the ball upfield. Casemiro, Rashford and Diallo combine down the right and spotting Mason Mount on the edge of the six-yard box, Diallo squares the ball his way instead of shooting from a good position. His pass is a little too far in front of Mount and a wonderful chance goes to waste. That would and should have been a sensational team goal.
29 min: Amad Diallo cuts inside from the right, getting the better of Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku as he dribbles into the Man City penalty area. He takes a shot from a promising position but his low effort skids harmlessly wide.
26 min: The camera cuts to the posh seats, all the better to give us a look at Manchester United’s blazered up new hierarchy. From left to right: David Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox. There’s no sign of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire minority stakeholder in the club who hired them all.
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25 min: A mistake by Jonny Evans in the United defensive ranks gifts position to Bobb, who plays the ball to James McAtee. He tries his luck with a curled effort from left to right and sees his shot thump the far upright. Close but no cigar.
23 min: “Kalvin Phillips was signed as cover for Rodri so to hear that the club are targeting a defensive midfielder in the window must mean he will be offloaded at the end of the month,” writes Rick Harris.
“They say never go back, but perhaps Leeds might not be the worst place to resurrect his career. He’s not the first of his time to find himself in this position as I seem to recall Shaun Wright-Phillips rotting on City’s bench back in the day.”
22 min: More good work from Bobb, who cuts inside Martinez and Evans from the right before taking a shot and firing high over the bar.
20 min: United have 11 players behind the ball with 10 of them defending the edge of their own penalty area as Manchester CIty press and probe for an opening. A mistake by Rashford allows Oscar Bobb to charge through the inside left and pull back to Haaland, who can’t get a shot off.
18 min: Doku skips past Dalot (“megged!”) and then Maguire as it they weren’t on the pitch and cuts a cross into the penalty area from the byline. It’s just a little too high for Nico O’Reilly, who was unmarked and poised to head home from a position near the penalty spot.
16 min: Ederson pings a high pass out towards Rico Lewis on the touchline but the full-back has to leap to head the ball to keep it in play and can only give it away to Lisandro Martinez.
15 min: There’s little of note to report on the pitch, where Erling Haaland has just been penalised for fouling Harry Maguire about five yards outside the United penalty area.
13 min: A penny for the thoughts of Kalvin Phillips, who can’t get into this makeshift Manchester City midfield and has to settle for a place on the bench. It seems abundantly clear that he has no future at City and it will be interesting to see who takes a punt on him following his disastrous loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season. He was such a good player at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, but his confidence must be at rock bottom.
8 min: While Erling Haaland was mindlessly chopping wood during the summer, it seems Marcus Rashford was engaged in more cerebral pursuits. According to ITV commentator Sam Matterface, the Un ited winger was keeping his mind active by doing jigsaw puzzles.
“I’m too polite to say he went to pieces in the opposition box on more than one occasion last season,” says Ally McCoist on co-comms, taking less than 10 minutes to earn his fee.
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6 min: Jeremy Doku tries and fails to get the better of Diogo Dalot down the left wing, prompting the Manchester United right-back to try and fail to set up a quick counter-attack. He’s dispossessed by Rico Lewis.
3 min: Manchester city are applying all the early pressure and Harry Maguire and Onana seem to be getting plenty of touches. They say you shouldn’t read too much into a Community Shield match but I’m looking forward to seeing how Casemiro fares, as he looked like he was pulling a caravan on numerous occasions last season.
It’ll be interesting to see how James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly get on too, while in the red corner, Marcus Rashford will be also be hoping to get this season off to a flier after the many disappointments of his last campaign.
1 min: Andre Onana gets an early touch and boots the ball towards the halfway line, where Rico Lewis wins it.
Man City v Man United is go ...
1 min: Bruno Fernandes gets the ball rolling for Manchester United and it’s played back to Harry Maguire, who lumps it forward.
Not long now: Led out by Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias, the teams make their way out on to the Wembley sward and are introduced to an array of dignatories including Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee and FA blazer Mark Bullingham.
I think I see former United defender Ronny Johnsen there too. Does the Norwegian qualify as a legend? Answers on a postcard or email. Speaking of Norwegians, Erling Haaland is reported to have spent much of the summer chopping wood in his home country at the behest of his father. Apparently Alfie Haaland wants his son to get stronger, although I suspect he just wants a ready supply of wood for the fire.
That’s certainly why my father used to make me spend long days chopping wood, long after it became apparent I would not be making it as a professional athlete. I can testify that it does get you fit.
Some pre-match admin: If the scores are level in today’s game after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time and a penalty shootout will take place shortly after the final whistle.
Pep Guardiola: “It’s important for us to be here because it means we have done something good last season,” says the Manchester City manager in an interview with ITV. “All the squad come back from holidays and now I have to see how we train, how we complete the first games, what is our mentality, our game and what is going to happen.”
He goes on to say that Jack Grealish “was a little bit niggles” and in discomfort yesterday. “He didn’t feel good” and “with our defenders, Manuel [Akanji] and Ruben [Dias] they have only trained three days.”
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Erik Ten Hag: In conversation with ITV, the Manchester United’ manager is asked if he will be taking today’s Community Shield match seriously or treating it like a part of his pre-season preparations.
“It’s a part of pre-season,” he says. “I have already said I don’t like friendlies but we want to win. City wants to win as well, I am sure but you don’t go in crazy risk because there is a season to play. You don’t go and risk players.”
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Manchester United: Some players, like Marcus Rashford, had a summer off but Erik ten Hag’s squad remains bedevilled by injuries and other absentees, writes Will Unwin.
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola says City are open to bringing in a central midfielder and a striker but will not be held to ransom over fees. Words: Will Unwin.
Some transfer tittle-tattle: The word on the street is that Manchester United are closing in on the acquisition of Bayern Munich duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui and could pay up to £60m for the two players. A Dutch cenre-back, De Ligt was an Ajax skipper under Ten Hag, while Morocco full-back Mazraoui also played for Ten Hag at Ajax.
Manchester United: In news that could send a chill shiver down the collective spine of United fans who already think their goalkeeper is something of a liability, André Onana has declared he will “take a lot of risks” this season and will accept any criticism coming his way if he costs his side victories. Jamie Jackson reports …
Today’s match officials
Referee: John Brooks
Referee’s assistants: Adrian Holmes and Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett
Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes
Those teams: Congratulations to 19-year-old midfielder Nico O’Reilly, an academy grduate who makes his senior debut for Manchester City today. James McAtee also lines up in City’s midfield, having spent the past two seasons on loan at Sheffield United. Erling starts up front, while Jack Grealish is not in the squad, with reports sugesting he has suffered some manner of injury.
Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans line up in the hearty of Manchester United’s defence, with Lisandro Martinez filling in at left-back in the absence of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is rumoured to be off to West Ham.
The presence of Casemiro in United’s midfield may worry some fans, not least because he finished last season quite poorly and is reported to have put in several disappointing performances in United’s pre-season tour. Bruno Fernades looks set to fill in as a makeshift striker, while new signing Joshua Zirkzee starts on the bench.
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Manchester City v Manchester United line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, O’Reilly, McAtee, Bobb, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Ake, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Savinho, Nunes, Kabore.
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Evans, Martinez, Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes, Mount, Amad, Rashford.
Subs: Bayindir, Collyer, Eriksen, McTominay, Pellistri, Antony, Garnacho, Sancho, Zirkzee.
Your City side at Wembley! 🩵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 10, 2024
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Kovacic, O’Reilly, McAtee, Bobb, Doku, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Ake, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Savinho, Nunes, Kabore#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/TMSuFfhOuL
In the red corner at Wembley... 🔴🥊#MUFC || #CommunityShield
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 10, 2024
Early Man City team news
Ederson missed last weekend’s friendly with a reported “niggle”, although a cynic could be forgiven for thinking he was being wrapped in cotton wool ahead of a potential move to Saudi Arabia.
John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Rodri are all unavailable for selection as they are still on holiday after going all the way to the final of Euro 2024. Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, and Bernardo Silva all returned to training this week and could play this afternoon.
Erling Haaland, who had no international obligations this summer and is fully rested, is expected to start and comes into this game on the back of a hat-trick he scored in a friendly against Chelsea last weekend. Signed from Troyes this summer, the Brazilian winger Savio may also start today. His Argentinian counterpart Julian Alvarez will not be playing for City today because he is on the verge of completing his surprise £81.5m move to Atletico Madrid.
Early Man United team news
Manchester United’s new signing Leny Yoro is out for three months with a fractured metatarsal, while Tyrell Malacia remains unavailable after missing the entirety of last season with a knee injury.
Elsewhere in the United defence, there are concerns over the availability of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw. Lisandro Martinez could feature for some or all of today’s game, despite having only reported back from Copa Ameria duty with Argentina on Monday morning.
Despite not having featured in Manchester United’s pre-season preparations as he’s been trying to have another holiday after his late call-up from Disney World to the Netherlands Euro 2024 squad, Joshua Kirkzee could make his United debut today in the absence of Rasmus Hojlund, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. A £42.5m signing from Bologna, Zirkzee is United’s only fit centre-forward.
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Community Shield: Man City v Man United
Welcome back. In a repeat of the FA Cup final played at Wembley in May, Manchester United and Manchester City reconvene at FA HQ for the traditonal season curtain-raiser ahead of next weekend’s first round of Premier League fixtures.
Erik ten Hag’s side were the surprise winner of the FA Cup when last time these sides met but comparatively little at stake in this glorified friendly, the odds seem stacked against them again this afternoon, due in no small part to something of a pre-season injury crisis.
Kick-off at Wembley between these Mancunian rivals is at 3pm (BST) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
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