Rodgers, Guardiola Begin Season’s Rivalry as Leicester, City Battle for Community Shield

Leicester City and Manchester City will today at Wembley Stadium clash in the 2021/22 season curtain-raiser as they compete for the Community Shield, courtesy of Brendan Rodgers Foxes FA Cup victory and Pep Guardiola’s Citizens Premier League title glory last season. Those triumphs earn both managers another crack at silverware today. While the Shield may have little bearing on the upcoming season overall, it never hurts to get off to a winning start to build momentum

FA Cup winners Leicester City and Premier League champions Manchester City will lock horns in the Community Shield at Wembley this evening.
Leicester secured their first ever FA Cup trophy last season courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the final on May 15, while Manchester City ultimately finished 12 points clear of second-place Manchester United at the top of the 2020-21 Premier League table to reclaim the title from Liverpool.

The 2020-21 campaign will forever be remembered in the history of Leicester, as the Foxes won the FA Cup for the first time, but the season ended in disappointment in terms of the Premier League, with a 4-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on the final day seeing them drop out of the top four.

Brendan Rodgers’ side ultimately finished fifth last term, meaning that they will play in the Europa League again this season, rather than the Champions League, which looked to be a strong possibility for long spells.

Leicester have now reset for the new season, and they have been involved in four friendlies this summer, losing their first two to Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers on July 24 and July 28 respectively before ending last month with a 3-3 draw against Queens Park Rangers.
The Foxes finished their preparations for the new campaign with a 3-2 victory over Villarreal on Wednesday, though, with Caglar Soyuncu, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez on the scoresheet.

Rodgers’s side have managed to bring in Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare and Ryan Bertrand this summer, and more new additions are expected before the transfer window closes.
Man City, meanwhile, are bidding to win the Community Shield for the seventh time, having previously lifted this particular trophy in 1937, 1968, 1972, 2012, 2018 and 2019.

The Citizens proved to be too strong for the rest of the competition in last season’s Premier League and will be looking to make the perfect start to the new campaign when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur in their opener on August 15, with Harry Kane’s future still very much up in the air.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who closed in on a £100m deal for Jack Grealish, have only been involved in three pre-season matches this summer, opening their preparations on July 27 with a 2-0 victory over Preston North End before putting four unanswered goals past Barnsley last weekend.

Man City then recorded a 4-1 win over Blackpool on Tuesday evening and will view today’s contest as a valuable exercise with the new Premier League season just around the corner.
Leicester City could be facing the Premier League’s first 100 million pound player which could just be added motivation for Rodgers.

Media reports have suggested Guardiola could give the England playmaker a first outing in the curtain-raiser to the season.
The Foxes upset Chelsea 1-0 at the stadium in May to win the FA Cup for the first time and has shown money is not everything.

“You can look at it two ways and think you can never compete or you try and create a culture and an environment that means you are going to be competitive,” Rodgers said of Man City’s spending.
“We know the level in the Premier League but it doesn’t stop us competing,” added the Northern Irishman.
City has won the shield six times previously, from 12 appearances, and most recently in 2019.
Leicester’s 1-0 FA Cup win was the club’s first in their history but today will be a third appearance in the curtain-raiser.

Both sides will be keen to start the campaign with some silverware, even if the match will be lacking some of the big guns yet to return after a busy summer of international football.
“It’s a fantastic game for us. It means we won the FA Cup,” said Rodgers, who lost French defender Wesley Fofana to injury on Wednesday.

“It’s a wonderful occasion and there’s something there at the end of it.”
Only 20,000 spectators were allowed into Wembley for the FA Cup final but today offers the chance for many more fans to enjoy a day out at the stadium, with a capacity crowd and Leicester allocated 26,639 tickets, of which City has been allocated 26,602.

Kane remains a leading target for the Citizens, and it will be fascinating to see whether the Manchester giants manage to sign both players before the end of the window.

Leicester will be missing Timothy Castagne, James Justin and Jonny Evans this weekend through injury, while Wesley Fofana suffered a fractured fibula during the pre-season clash with Villarreal on Wednesday, meaning that the centre-back’s 2021-22 campaign is now in doubt.
There is a chance that Wilfred Ndidi could be pressed into action alongside Soyuncu at the back, with Ricardo Pereira and Bertrand lining up in the full-back positions.

Kelechi Iheanacho could be given the nod alongside Jamie Vardy as part of a front two, with Daka starting on the bench, while Barnes and Youri Tielemans are also in line to feature for the Foxes.
Man City, meanwhile, had Ferran Torres back in pre-season training on Wednesday following his involvement in Euro 2020, while fellow Spain international Rodri was also present during the same session.

The Citizens will still be missing a number of key players, though, with the likes of Ederson, John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus all unavailable for selection.
Zack Steffen s set to start between the sticks, while there are likely to be spots in the first XI for Cole Palmer and Sam Edozie, who have impressed for the English champions during pre-season.
Bernardo Silva continues to be linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium, but the Portugal international could feature in the final third of the field alongside Riyad Mahrez.