2011 FA Community Shield Match Preview: Manchester Utd vs Manchester City (Sun 7th Aug)

Manchester United and Manchester City will lock horns on August 7^th, at Wembley Stadium, in the traditional curtain raiser to the English football season. The Red Devils will seek revenge for last year’s FA Cup loss to Citizens, with no love lost between the supporters of the two sides. Ashley Young, Phil Jones, and David De Gea are some of the young summer signings who will turn out for Manchester United this year. Man Utd have been the most successful side in Community Shield history, having won the title 18 times including the last two seasons; with Liverpool just behind them on 15 successes, the most recent coming in 2006. It is somewhat surprising that City’s squad is virtually unchanged from their FA Cup triumph; although that may well change by kick off on August 7^th, with Sergio Aguero expected to arrive at the Etihad Stadium this week. Whether his international team mate, Carlos Tevez, is still around at that time is anybody’s guess. Also joining the team have been Stefan Savic from FK Partizan and Gael Clichy from Arsenal. Manager Roberto Mancini has said that he wants to sign two more players before the transfer window closes. Reserve goalkeeper Shay Given has left the club for Aston Villa, but with England goalkeeper Joe Hart as the first choice that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Patrick Vieira has retired and Jo has left for Internacional. Fans of the Red Devils, by contrast,  will be keen to see new goalkeeper David De Gea (who will replace the recently retired Edwin Van Der Sar) lining up alongside other new arrivals, Phil Jones and Ashley Young, in a competitive match for the champions. With Wayne Rooney, Nani, and Chris Smalling each another year older and wiser, things look good for the Old Trafford side. There have been strong rumors that they are also after Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder to replace Paul Scholes, who has retired as well. Striker Javier Hernandez will miss the match as he is recovering from a concussion sustained during United’s USA summer tour. Manchester City’s new striker Sergio Aguero, who was just brought in from Atletico Madrid for a transfer fee of £ 38 million, can hardly wait for his debut. Sergio Aguero likely will make his debut appearance at this prestigious match Both teams had impressive wins in their last friendlies. Man Utd were finally able to win 2:1 against Barcelona, Man City won 3:0 against Inter Milan in the Dublin Super Cup last weekend. Manchester Utd: De Gea – Evra, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand – Young, Carrick, Anderson, Nani – Rooney, Berbatov Manchester City: Hart – Kolarov, Richards, Kompany, Lescott – Y.Toure, De Jong, David Silva, Milner – Balotelli, Dzeko.]]>