Chelsea vs Manchester United – Community Shield Preview




Community Shield

Community Shield

Chelsea and Manchester United lock horns yet again at Wembley for the Community Shield. The lure of silverware is lesser, but the intensity of the battle will be high as always. The winner of this tie, will go back home with a psychological edge over its opponents as the Barclays premier League is moving closer to its start. The last time these two sides met in a similar fixture, Chelsea went on to win, through penalties.

The friendly games of the two clubs saw them produce some indifferent form. United faltered twice with their porous defence conceding as many as 5 goals in three games inspite of their convincing victories in two of those three games. Chelsea has had an abysmal pre season, succumbing to defeats to Ajax amongst three clubs. In their defense however, Chelsea fielded a relatively immature squad. Yossi Benayon has been Chelsea’s lone recruit, whereas their rivals have signed Chicharito and Chris Smalling, two young players with immense potential.

Both the managers will be looking to kick start his 2010 campaign in a bright way, and the Community shield provides the perfect opportunity for the same. Chelsea has trimmed its squad considerably, whereas United have hardly bolstered their midfield.

Chelsea will be missing the services of Petr Cech for Sunday’s class with the Czech keeper ruled out for the first weeks of the new season. Ross Turnbull should find his place between the sticks, with Ancelloti expected to name an unchanged side that played Hamburg last week. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka will resume their strike partnership and this game might see Yossi Benayon donning the colours of Chelsea for the first time in a competitive game.

Sir Alex Ferguson on the other hand, has a myriad of options at his disposal. Boasting of an impressive forward line up of Dimitar Berbatov, Rooney, Owen, Chicharito, Macheda, United possess an attack that can unlock any defense. He is most likely to go in for a typical 4-4-2 formation with Berbatov and Rooney at the helm of things.

Prediction

Preseason games tend to throw a lot of surprises and consequently it is tough to make a call. These are two sides that have played great games in the past. We can expect a rusty encounter with a lot of challenges, with much of the ball loitering around in the midfield area. It will probably again go down to penalties, where United might pip Chelsea this time around.

Chelsea 1 – 1 Manchester United (Manchester United winning on Penalties)

Tags: , , , , , ,

The Sports Mirror

Author:

Articles written by "The Sports Mirror" are compiled by various authors and then put online to give you the very best from all the worlds. The Sports Mirror is a comprehensive website on sports in India and provides detailed information on Indian sports scenario and famous Indian sportsmen.

Cricket

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 4th, 2024

Jaipur, 04 February 2024: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was in the pink city on Saturday where the Ambassador dropped by Rajasthan Royals’ home stadium ..

Football

LALIGA Concludes ‘Extra Time’ Webinar Series

LALIGA Concludes ‘Extra Time’ Webinar Series

Posted by: Pooja Kamboj on May 16th, 2024

Continuing to work alongside stakeholders from the sports fraternity, LALIGA, the world’s largest football ecosystem, brought the curtains down on this se ..

Tennis

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on December 19th, 2023

Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes was recently elected to receive the Ultimate Honor in Tennis – induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame &# ..

F1

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on September 26th, 2016

Held on Sept 1st, The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau (TOSB) Twinterview consisted of sports panelists such as Mark Gallagher (Public Speaker on F1 race), Shayam ..

Boxing

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2018

It looks like it will be a scintillating couple of months for fans of elite boxing. There is the prospect of the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Ca ..

Other Sports

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2024

As the 2023-24 NBA season approaches the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Clippers have emerged as a formidable force in the Western Conference, showcasing their ..

One stop guide to all the latest sports news, reviews, opinions, fixtures and live scores from India and around the world.

Copyright © 2024 | The Sports Mirror