Star players missing as Manchester City confirms starting XI vs Manchester United Community Shield Cup
Manchester City have five-and-a-half weeks before they open their 2024/25 campaign against Man United at Wembley in the Community Shield.
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 06: Manchester City players line-up as penalty shoot-out takes place during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 06, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
City lost the Community Shield last season but will want to win the 2024 edition even more as they face Manchester United.
Manchester City are back in training in a fortnight to kick-start preparations for the 2024/25 season, before embarking on a four-game tour of the USA to get fitness into the limited number of players available to Pep Guardiola.
Most of Guardiola’s big-hitters have been at the Euros in Germany – although three have already been knocked out – and they will need sufficient time to rest and recover following a long season. Next season won’t be any better, with 11-months between their first and last games, so the more help they can give players now, the better it could be next summer.
After tour games vs Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea, City are back at Wembley to exact revenge on Manchester United in the Community Shield.
City have lost the last three editions of the Community Shield, with narrow defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool following a reverse at Wembley to Leicester – who had a far fitter squad in 2021 as most of City’s players had been at the last edition of the Euros.
No club had more players at the Euros this year than City, and United will be able to call upon the likes of Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and Antony at Wembley, all having a summer off.
City can boast a similar number of big names who have not been in action over the summer, with Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish and Ederson available. All would be expected to start vs United – unless Guardiola wants to play cup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Rico Lewis has a golden opportunity on tour to kick on, and will probably be used at right-back in Kyle Walker’s absence, with Josko Gvardiol likely available following Croatia’s group-stage exit in Germany. Mateo Kovacic will be a probable inclusion in midfield for the same reason.
Kevin De Bruyne’s Euros came to an end on Monday, before he declared he needed a rest. There is just short of six weeks between now and the Community Shield, so that could be a game for him to aim for to make his return – unless the decision is made to fly him out for pre-season mid-way through the tour. Jeremy Doku is in the same boat as De Bruyne, but is in need of less rest than De Bruyne, more than ten years his elder.
James McAtee will be given the chance to impress on tour, so the Community Shield will be a barometer of how well he has done over the previous three weeks. In the absence of his international colleagues, an attacking midfield role could have his name on it vs United. A front three of Haaland, Grealish and Doku should be fit and firing after plenty of time to prepare, with Oscar Bobb a strong candidate to replace either Doku or McAtee.
Then, depending on what happens in Germany, the final two places could see something resembling a full strength team. Either John Stones or Manu Akanji will exit the Euros at the quarter final stage when England meet Switzerland, that fixture coming five weeks before the Community Shield.
If England lose, Kyle Walker can be an option on the right, while Nathan Ake’s Netherlands are yet to fully convince and would face the winners of England or Switzerland in a potential semi-final – four weeks before the United game. Similarly, Ruben Dias’ Portugal face France in the quarter-finals so progress is not guaranteed.
At the very least, City should have three good defenders having five weeks to prepare for United, and a couple more with three or four weeks. That situation is similar in midfield when it comes to the English and Portuguese contingent, while Spain have been the standout nation so far but face a tricky quarter-final with hosts Germany before playing the winners of Portugal vs France in the semis.
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