English football returns on Saturday with Premier League champions Liverpool facing FA Cup winners Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at Wembley, thirty-three days after the 2019-20 season ended, and just six days after the Champions League final.
The short gap between the end of last season and the start of this campaign makes Saturday’s game one of the most unpredictable Community Shields. Fitness will be an issue, with managers Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta keen to ensure a good start to the season as well as priming their players for a long season that will see them play almost nonstop until the end of May.
Liverpool will be desperate to maintain their trophy streak by winning the Shield for the first time since 2006, but Arsenal have a strong recent record at Wembley and success for them could boost hopes of a title challenge. With two attack-minded teams, though, we can reasonably expect goals and excitement.
The game can give an indication of which team will start the season well, but there have been some good examples of both the winners and losers going on to have completely different campaigns than their Shield performance would suggest.
Manchester United have the most wins, lifting the Shield on 21 occasions. Arsenal and Liverpool stand second in the all-time table with 15 wins each — Saturday will see the two clubs both playing in their 24th Community Shield.
(Source: Theophilus Tawiah)