English Community Shield
2011-08-07 - Manchester United vs Manchester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Community Shield
Sunday 7 August 2011 - Kickoff 2:30pm
Manchester United
The season is almost ready for the big kick off and Manchester United remain the favourites at the layers to retain their title from last season. Sir Alex Ferguson surprised many with his early forays into the transfer market, picking up David De Gea, Ashley Young and Phil Jones before the celebrations from winning title number 19 were still up and running.
The big question on the lips of fans coming into the new season is whether United are actually going to buy a midfielder, an area which Barcelona exposed in the Champions League Final at Wembley. The retirement of Paul Scholes made the question all the more relevant and the likes of Luka Modric, Samir Nasri and Wesley Sneijder have all been linked.
The Sneijder story continues to rumble and provides an interesting back drop to this game as both Manchester clubs are in the front line to buy the Dutch International.
At the moment, it seems Sir Alex Ferguson will be content going in to the new campaign with Tom Cleverley expecting to get more time in the centre of the pitch. The likes of Danny Welbeck can also expect further time to prove themselves, while Michael Owen signed a contract with the belief that he would also be given more of an opportunity.
Michael Carrick, Rafael and Antonio Valencia are all missing with the game against West Brom next Sunday in mind. Javier Hernandez has concussion and could miss the entire August and Darren Fletcher looks to recover from the virus that effectively ended his season prematurely last year.
Sir Alex Ferguson has made it clear that he is not making this game any different than previous Community Shield games, regardless of the opposition. He has admitted he will be using it as a last pre-season game so changes will be made to ensure plenty of players get their last chances to improve their match fitness.
United played a strong team as a testimony to Paul Scholes' years of service on Friday night and while many of those will start again here, it also means I can see plenty of changes made throughout the game.
Possible line up: De Gea, Fabio, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Nani, Young and Rooney (4-3-3).
Manchester City
There must be a quiet optimism developing at the City of Manchester Stadium that their team is ready to take the next big step in their evolution and have a genuine challenge to win the Premier League title this season. The signing of Sergio Aguero has the makings of a top quality purchase and an ideal replacement for the unhappy Carlos Tevez and I think City could be ready if they get their tactics right.
Roberto Mancini was criticised for his style of play in big games last season, but he has looked to make shrewd purchases by bringing in Gael Clichy to take over the problematic left back area while Stefan Savic looks like a solid piece of business. City continue to be linked with moves for Samir Nasri and Wesley Sneijder and either of those coming in could tip the scales in their favour over the next 9 months in the Premier League.
Carlos Tevez remains desperate to leave the City of Manchester Stadium (or the Etihad Stadium as it was renamed), but I expect we will see the best of Edin Dzeko now he has had 6 months to get acclimatised to the League and style of football. Mario Balotelli remains an enigma, mixing the sublime with the ridiculous, but David Silva began to look like the class act he is as he too got used to the Premier League.
Mancini knows this game is important for City, but like his counterpart at Old Trafford, he understands it is a pre-season game in all but name and the bigger key is getting players ready for the new season that will begin for them a week on Monday. The Italian feels his players will not be at 100% for this game, but that is only natural before the competitive games get going.
Aguero will take his place on the bench and Tevez is not due back in training until Monday. That means Balotelli and Dzeko are likely to start up front, while Clichy will play at left back.
Possible line up: Hart, Richards, Clichy, Lescott, Kompany, De Jong, Yaya Toure, Barry, Milner, Balotelli and Dzeko.
Head to Head
The last time these two teams met at Wembley saw Manchester City beat United 1-0 in the FA Cup Semi Final back in April, before going on to win their first trophy in a generation.
United picked up 4 points from the 2 League games they played last season and City had won just 1 game in the last 8 games before winning the Cup Semi.
They have only ever contested this trophy once, when it was still known as the Charity Shield, and on that occasion United won 1-0 in a game played at City's former home Maine Road.
Prediction
This is a fascinating match, but I can't help but think it means more to Manchester City than it does to Manchester United, mainly because the latter have had a couple of testimonial games to play in the last few days where they felt they had to play their big names.
City have had a few more days to prepare for the game and I think Mancini will look to build a winning mentality at the club and picking up trophies, no matter what they are, will only breed further success at the club.
I am surprised the layers have made City the big outsiders in the game on a neutral turf when we know Sir Alex Ferguson is bound to make a few changes to ensure all the players have had sufficient playing time before the new season starts.
City should have the more settled side for the majority of the game and the value is clearly on them to make it 2 wins from 2 games against United at Wembley Stadium.
I would dearly love to see United win the game as a United fan, but this is a pick based on my head and not my heart- it is still a friendly game and I will have small stakes on City who should be more motivated in the contest.
The Pick :
Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City
