Man Utd vs Man City Preview & Prediction | 2024 FA Community Shield
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The final game of the domestic football season in England in late-May saw Manchester United defeat Manchester City in the FA Cup final; now the two teams head back down to Wembley to battle it out for the first piece of silverware for the 2024/25 season.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 10th August, 2024 - UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – ITV / US – ESPN
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – ITVX / US – ESPN+
MAN UTD PREVIEW: NEW ERA ON PAPER, SAME UNITED IN REALITY
The first summer transfer window of the INEOS era has been an underwhelming one to this stage for Manchester United with the usual hiccups and dragging on of deals meaning they head into this one having brought in two players, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, the latter of which will now miss a substantial chunk of time due to injury.
Erik ten Hag is dealing with quite a few injuries actually with Rasmus Hojlund also suffering a hamstring issue, whilst Marcus Rashford, Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all limped off in pre-season games. This doesn’t appear to be any different a United team to the one that finished eighth just a couple of months ago.
MAN CITY PREVIEW: EVOLVING AGAIN
Unlike Manchester United, Manchester City appear to be jut smoothly shifting onto their next ‘great’ squad, albeit it would be fair to suggest Pep Guardiola didn’t want to lose forward Julian Alvarez if it was up to the former Barcelona boss but the Argentina international is now Atletico Madrid-bound.
The likes of Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee have been promoted to proper, out and out first-team squad players now as the Cityzens simply seek to continue their stretch of dominance over English football. Inertia, fatigue and the ageing process appears to be everybody else’s hope for it ending soon.
MAN UTD TEAM NEWS: GETTING FUNKY AGAIN, ALREADY
Erik ten Hag had to implement some bizarre tactical setups last season because of the amount of injuries he suffered from and that is expected to be the case once again from the off this time around with a litany of defensive injury woes.
Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez appeared certain to be the starters but they are both no injury doubts alongside Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans, whilst Yoro is definitely out. Martinez does seem the likeliest to be involved. Harry Amass has impressed at left-back so he should still deputise for both Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw.
Joshua Zirkzee, despite not playing in pre-season, may well get his competitive Red Devils debut from the start up-front due to the absence of Hojlund. Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Alejandro Garnacho are only just returning from their post-EURO or Copa America holidays.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Onana; Diogo Dalot, Evans, Martinez, Amass; McTominay, Casemiro; Diallo, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee
UNAVAILABLE: Yoro (Injured), Malacia (Injured), Fish (Injured), Hojlund (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Maguire (Injured), Lindelof (Injured), Martinez (Injured), Evans (Illness), Wan-Bissaka (Injured), Shaw (Injured)
MAN CITY TEAM NEWS: CITY’S LATEST WINNING FORMULA
It did appear almost certain that Manchester City number one, Ederson, would leave the club this summer with a move to Saudi Arabia on the cards. He has remained but is unlikely to start the season in goal, at least not the Community Shield.
Versatile English defender Rico Lewis is also an injury doubt but is beginning to come back, whilst the almost ever present and most important player, Rodri, will surely still be due some further rest after winning UEFA EURO 2024 last month.
As well as Rodri, several other internationals are unavailable to play according to Pep Guardiola, such as England trio John Stones, Kyle Walker and Phil Foden. The aforementioned Julian Alvarez may not even be a City player by the time the game actually kicks off.
PREDICTED XI (4-1-4-1): Stefan Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic; Bobb, De Bruyne, McAtee, Grealish; Haaland
UNAVAILABLE: Stones (Rested), Walker (Rested), Rodri (Rested), Foden (Rested)
QUESTIONABLE: Ederson (Injured), Lewis (Injured)
MAN UTD VS MAN CITY PREDICTION
This is a weird one because the two teams that get put out by the respective coaches will be significantly weaker and weakened than the strongest elevens we would perceive them to possess. One then has to imagine it comes down to a straight fight between the better depth and generally more naturally, well grooved squad and there can only really be one winner there. Backing City is the way to go, despite United’s shock a few months ago – which may well have inadvertently caused themselves to go down a path with little long-term success.
MAN UTD VS MAN CITY TIP: MAN CITY TO WIN
