Just 11 weeks after they met in the FA Cup final, Manchester City and Manchester United return to Wembley to do it all over again in the Community Shield, with bragging rights, momentum and a big shield on the line.
This will be the eighth time in the history of the Community Shield that the match has been a repeat of the previous season’s FA Cup final, after 1957 (Man Utd vs Aston Villa), 1977 (Man Utd vs Liverpool), 1985 (Everton vs Man Utd), 1986 (Everton vs Liverpool), 1988 (Liverpool vs Wimbledon), 2007 (Man Utd vs Chelsea) and 2017 (Arsenal vs Chelsea).
Of the last eight occasions the Community Shield has been between the previous season’s champions and FA Cup winners, the team to have won the FA Cup has won the shield seven times, with the exception being Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2018, which of course bodes well for Erik ten Hag’s side after their 2-1 victory over their neighbours in May.
City have been regular participants in the Community Shield in recent years. In fact, this will be the fourth consecutive year Pep Guardiola’s men are appearing in the competition, though they haven’t won any of the last three, having lost to Leicester City (2021), Liverpool (2022) and Arsenal (2023). Only Manchester United (1998 to 2001) have lost the Community Shield in four consecutive years.
In terms of its overall history, this is Manchester United’s competition. Including shared victories, they have won the Community Shield more often than any other side (21), and they have won the trophy in their last four appearances, with this their first appearance since a 2-1 win over Leicester in 2016 in José Mourinho’s first match in charge.
As for key players, Erling Haaland has looked in ominous form in pre-season, recently hitting a hat-trick against Chelsea in a 4-2 victory in Columbus. Haaland has a great record against United too, having been involved in nine goals in six appearances against the Red Devils, scoring six and assisting three. However, he’s yet to register a single goal involvement in four appearances at Wembley.
Phil Foden also enjoys a Manchester derby, having been involved in seven goals in his last six appearances against United, scoring six and assisting one. Only against Brighton (8) has Foden scored more club career goals than he has against United (6).
United have their own specialists in derbies, though. Marcus Rashford didn’t enjoy the best season last time out, but he has scored six goals against Manchester City in all competitions – only against Leicester (8) and Liverpool (7) has he scored more.
Kobbie Mainoo became a regular starter for England at Euro 2024, and the teenager will be looking to add another landmark to his already impressive legacy. Having scored against City in the FA Cup final, he could become just the second player to score in the FA Cup final and subsequent Community Shield match as a teenager, after Nicolas Anelka for Arsenal in 1998.
Manchester City vs Manchester United Head-to-Head
This will be the third time Manchester City and Manchester United have met in the Community Shield – United have won both previous matchups, 1-0 in 1956 and 3-2 in 2011.
City won both Premier League contests last season, winning 3-0 at Old Trafford and 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
However, United earned the win in May’s FA Cup final between the pair, with goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Mainoo securing the trophy for Ten Hag’s men, despite Jérémy Doku’s late goal back.
Manchester United vs Manchester City Maltasport prediction
Manchester City will definitely want to avenge their recent FA Cup defeat which ended their season on a sour note. United on the other hand will want to start the season positively with another trophy. We pick City to take the Shield.
Manchester City 2 Manchester United 0
