English Football Curtain Raiser: City vs Liverpool, Community Shield

Well what a season we had last time around in the English Premier League. Never before we had seen such a neck to neck title chase (in terms of total points amassed). To lose the prestigious league title after scoring 97 points could be soul crushing if anything else, just ask a Liverpool fan! PS. Skip to bottom for our FanFight (Sign-up and get Rs.30 FREE) fantasy team of the LIV vs MCI Community Shield final!

Manchester City held their nerves and won the title on the final day of the 2018/19 EPL season; anyone getting the AGUERROOOOOOOO nostalgia? After achieving 100 points in the 2017-18 season, City relentlessly finished on 98 points, pipping Liverpool just by a point to become the champions again.

What is Community Shield?

Community Shield is the traditional curtain raiser in English Football which is usually played before the opening fixtures of the Premier League. It’s played between the Premier League winner and the FA Cup winner. In case both the trophies are won by the same team (which is the case this time) the team which finished 2nd in the league is selected to play.

Considered as a friendly match which allows 6 substitutions throughout the game, Community Shield gives the managers a last chance to finalize his starting eleven for the opening fixtures. If the score remains tied after 90 minutes, the match skips extra time and goes directly to penalty shootouts. Keep reading for our FanFight (Sign-up and get Rs.30 FREE) fantasy team for this game!

Manchester City

Image:Jason Cairnduff/Reuters 

They’ve had a pretty good pre-season wherein they lost just one match, owing to a penalty shoot-out against Wolves. Manchester City have signed the young Spanish midfield maestro Rodri, who is the potential successor to Fernandinho. Apart from this there’s been no major incomings.


Fabian Delph has left for Everton and the biggest void to fill is the departure of their Captain, Maverick Vincent Kompany. Replacing him would be Pep Guardiola’s biggest challenge. Pep has a full squad to choose from apart from Leroy Sane who is yet to sign an extension with speculations linking him to Bayern Munich. His future looks uncertain so far.

Liverpool

                       Image: Liverpool FC

They’ve had a very mixed pre-season with losses against Dortmund, Napoli and Sevilla. Liverpool was the only team that challenged City last season and with the high of winning the UEFA Champions League, the fans were expecting a busy summer transfer window but all of their hopes have been dashed. Liverpool have failed to strengthen their team with no major signings at all. The concern for Liverpool fans would be any injury issues which could expose their depth in squad.

LIV vs MCI Betting:

Result?

I’m Expecting a closely fought battle with Liverpool winning the 2019 Community Shield, 3-2.

LIV vs MCI fantasy team:


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