Manchester City will be hoping to make a winning start to the 2021/22 campaign when they lock horns with Leicester City in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on Saturday.
City will head into the contest with a spring in their step after a successful pre-season campaign in terms of results, recording victories over Preston North End, Barnsley and Blackpool.
Nevertheless, the real business begins at Wembley and City’s players will be in for a stern test against the Foxes, who earned their place in the season curtain-raiser after defeating Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup final back in May.
In the build-up to the trip to Wembley, City have been boosted by the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Rodri all returning to training this week.
Bernardo featured against Blackpool on Tuesday evening, but De Bruyne and Rodri did not see a single minute of action during pre-season.
Read how our writers think City should line up at Wembley and use the interactive team selector to pick your best starting line-up using the gadget below.
Stuart Brennan
With so many players half-cooked after another difficult preseason, the Wembley curtain-raiser is about getting a respectable team out, and giving a few youngsters a bash at the big occasion along the way.
The first-teamers who have proved their fitness in the thee preseason games are a must, and those who came late to the party can be pencilled in as starters, and taken off for the few academy players who can come off the bench, along with Jack Grealish, apparently.
That means City can field an all-first team defence but will need to throw in a couple of rookies against what could be a strong Leicester team.
Simon Bajkowski
It’s really tempting to start Jack Grealish, but it sounds like he will only be fit enough for a place on the bench.
With Kevin De Bruyne out, I’d give Cole Palmer another chance in the middle alongside Ilkay Gundogan and in front of Fernandinho to see what he can do from there, with Grealish and/or James McAtee ready to replace him in the second half.
Sam Edozie has been the surprise standout from the three pre-season friendlies and deserves to start as a result. Riyad Mahrez is an automatic pick on the other side, and would plump for Bernardo Silva up front in the absence of any senior strikers; the Portugal international looked bright when he came on in the second half against Blackpool.
At the back, City have had a reasonably settled defence for the whole of pre-season and I’d expect the five players to be the same as they have been.
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