MADRID, 29 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The King Power Stadium will host this Saturday the final of the Community Shield, the English Super Cup, between Liverpool and Manchester City, a duel that will not have Wembley as its usual venue due to the fact that the final of the Women’s Euro Cup will be played the next day in the mythical london stadium.
Liverpool and Manchester City will live the first acid test in the 2022/2023 season, a new confrontation between the two in their frequent fight, after the ‘citizens’ will take an agonizing Premier in the last edition against the ‘reds’, the FA Cup champions and ‘Champions’ finalists against Real Madrid.
The Community Shield will kick off the English season and will host the first high-profile duel between the new flagships of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Both the Norwegian Erling Haaland and the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez are called to become the emblems of their respective teams, a battle that will host goals and suffering for granted in the rival areas.
Precisely, Liverpool arrive weighed down to the meeting by suffering the usual physical problems of the preseason. Klopp will not be able to count on the Portuguese Diogo Jota nor his goalkeeper Alisson Becker due to injury, so the Spanish Adrián San Miguel will defend the sticks and hopes to repeat his fantastic performance in the 2019 European Super Cup, where he became the hero.
For its part, City reaches the final with a solid preseason while cutting short -with only two games played-, including the victory (2-0) against Mexican America, with a double from Kevin de Bruyne, and to Bayern Munich (1-0), with a stellar debut and Haaland’s first goal.
However, Guardiola’s team, with the loss of Aymeric Laporte, will try to make up for the setback suffered the previous season in the Community Shield, where Leicester City won in 89′ to spoil their start to the season. Precisely, the ‘citizens’ will play in the stadium of their executioner, so they hope to get even to start the Premier League smoothly.
In front they will have a restored Liverpool in attack, which hopes not to miss the Senegalese Sadio Mané, who left Merseyside for Munich. Now, Roberto Firmino will have to take a step forward after receiving the confidence of his coach and vanishing the possibility of a change of scenery for the Brazilian.
“Bobby is crucial for us, the heart and soul of this team. Everything looks great and I am absolutely fine. For me, there is no doubt about his quality, so yes, he is fundamental for us,” Klopp said the preview of the final.
The ‘reds’ have played two more games than their rival in preseason, although they have left so many exhibitions, by beating German Leizpig (0-5) with a poker by Darwin Núñez and a solid victory (2-0) against Crystal Palace, as doubts after losing (0-4) against Manchester United and also against the Austrian Salzburg (1-0).
As for the record, City has won the English Super Cup up to six times, the last two with Pep Guardiola on the bench, while Liverpool has lifted it 15 times, although in recent years they have resisted and have not managed to win it since 2006. All to be decided in the 100th edition of the tournament in the new English classic.