Leicester City and Manchester City will lock horns in the 2021 FA Community Shield on Saturday.
As is the norm in England, a brand new season of football will start with a FA Community Shield game today, where the defending FA Cup winners will clash with the reigning Premier League champions.
Manchester City have made it to this tournament by winning the 2020/21 Premier League. They earned 86 points from 38 matches in the English top-flight last season, 12 more than their nearest opponent, rivals Manchester United. Pep Guardiola’s men broke quite a few records last season, as they embarked on an 82-day long winning streak.
While they won their third Premier League title in only four seasons, the end of the season was not as memorable. Man City made it to the Champions League final by beating the dangerous Paris Saint-Germain side. They were the favourites to win against Chelsea, but succumbed to a 1-0 defeat.
The manner of the defeat was what agitated the fans more, as they hardly came close to scoring in that match. Hence, it will be of utmost importance for Guardiola and his boys to start their season on a positive note.
Leicester City had a fantastic start to their Premier League campaign last time out. Brendan Rodgers’ side lost only five matches out of their first 19 games, and at one stage, it seemed as if their place in the 2021/22 edition of the Champions League was all but secure.
However, they faltered in the second half of the season and could only manage the fifth position, handing them a place in the Europa League for this season. However, unlike Manchester City, they had a fantastic end to their season, as they defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup final. The Foxes were 1-0 winners in that game, thanks to a spectacular strike from Youri Tielemans.
Leicester have previously made two appearances in the FA Community Shield. Their first appearance was in 1971. The Foxes had just won the second division competition, but with League winners Arsenal being unavailable due to scheduled pre-season matches, they were called upon to take on league runners Liverpool. Leicester City won the game 1-0, thanks to a goal from Stephen Whitworth.
Their second appearance was five years back, when they made it to this competition by winning the Premier League. Leicester suffered a 2-1 defeat against defending FA Cup champions Manchester City.
The Cityzens, they have made 12 appearances in this tournament, and five of those appearances were in the last decade itself. They won three of those matches, with their last two victories coming in 2018 and 2019, where they defeated Chelsea and Liverpool, respectively.
Both Manchester City and Leicester City have made mega-money signings. Guardiola’s team have shelled out £100 million of Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, while Leicester have signed the highly-rated Zambian forward Patson Daka and French defensive midfielder Boubakary Soumare.
Leicester will miss the services of Wesley Fofana, who suffered a horrific leg injury in their pre-season clash against Villareal, while Kasper Schmeichel is also likely to miss, as he was given a long break after a memorable Euro 2020 campaign. Phil Foden and Kevin de Bryune are nursing injuries and are likely to be unavailable for Guardiola.
Key Players
It seems as if Jamie Vardy is ageing like a fine wine, as he seems to get better with every passing season. The English striker had yet another fantastic season last time out, where he netted 17 goals. 15 of those goals from the 34-year-old came in the Premier League campaign.
Though Leicester have signed a new striker in Patson Daka, Brendan Rodgers is expected to rely on the trustworthy Kelechi Iheanacho for this match. He played a big part in Leicester City’s FA Cup triumph last season, scoring four times in six appearances.
One of the biggest threats for Leicester City will come from their former winger Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian is now a vital member of Guardiola’s team, and he scored 14 goals last season, four of which came in the Champions League. In the Premier League, he scored nine goals and had six assists as well.
The importance of a defensive midfielder is immense in modern football, and Pep learned it the hard way when he opted not to play Fernandinho in the UCL final, which resulted in a complete midfield dominance by Chelsea. The Brazilian committed 31 tackles and made 1014 passes in the Premier League last season.
Prediction
Leicester’s records against the Cityzens outside the Premier League is not up to the mark. They have beaten Manchester City only twice in a cup competition, and the last of those wins came way back in 1968.
Their overall head-to-head record against Manchester City is not impressive either. The Foxes have beaten the Cityzens on 31 occasions, whereas City have emerged victorious on 62 occasions.
In terms of quality on paper also, City are ahead of their opponents. Hence, though a final is always a different ball game, it will be safe to say that Manchester City are likely to win this match.
