Who will win the Community Shield? plus What Happens Next? and more

Sonderjyske player Emil Holm takes a long freekick in the Danish League - What Happens Next?

WHO WILL WIN THE COMMUNITY SHIELD?

leicester v man city, saturday 5.15pm itv 1

The 2021/22 English curtain raiser is almost upon us as the Premier League winners face the FA Cup winners - Man City take on Leicester. Sometimes seen as more of a friendly than a legitimate match for silverware, the Community Shield does at least give the competing sides to make an early statement of intent and show the level of their performance in the leadup to the Premier League season kicking off.

Leicester are not in this position often, so will likely be highly motivated to make the most of the opportunity and get a memorable victory to begin their new season on a high. The Foxes have only managed to lift the Community Shield once before, way back in 1971, though their two victories at Wembley in 2021 so far (including against the Champions League winners Chelsea in the FA Cup final), both via the same 1-0 scoreline, should give them confidence.

Their task against City is a daunting one though, particularly when you consider that Brendan Rodgers’ men have lost four of the previous five competitive H2H clashes with the Premier League Champions, winning once. Strikingly, they conceded after the 65th minute in all five of those matches, indicating they could become more vulnerable the longer this game goes on. 2nd Man City Goal is available at 71-74 on the spreads.

That being said, Manchester City scored the opening goal before the 15th minute in each of their previous two Community Shield appearances (2018 & 2019), and on both occasions, they went on to lift the trophy. Another success here would see them draw level with Tottenham on seven Community Shield victories - only four other English sides have won more than that (Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton).

In terms of the key danger men for Leicester, Jamie Vardy will undoubtedly be the number one. The veteran striker has scored 9 goals in his last 11 matches against Man City, so he will look to kick-off another goalscoring season by bagging here. 

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