Liverpool v Man City predictions: Reds set to lay down an early marker

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the Community Shield between Liverpool and Manchester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Where to watch

ITV, 5pm Saturday

Best bet

Liverpool draw no bet
1pt 11-10 bet365, Betfair, Paddy Power

Team news

Liverpool
Alisson is back training but won't be risked. Kostas Tsimikas is a doubt. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Diogo Jota are out.

Man City
Aymeric Laporte is out but Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and John Stones are all available after missing City's pre-season tour to the USA.

Match preview

Liverpool and Manchester City kick off the 2022-23 season at neutral Leicester where Jurgen Klopp can pick up the one piece of silverware to have eluded him at Anfield.

Klopp has twice led out his Liverpool side in the Community Shield and twice ended up a beaten man, by Manchester City in 2019 and Arsenal a year later.

Both went to penalty shootouts and there's every reason to think this year's annual curtain-raiser will also be close.

The venue may have changed but the gulf between two teams separated by the finest of margins last term hasn't – both league meetings between these superpowers ended in stalemates last season.

Quite how seriously Klopp and Pep Guardiola take the match in terms of team selection is something of an unknown and could be significant. But the Spaniard, who famously said once of the Community Shield that "no one counts it", is probably more inclined to try a few things given his side have played only two pre-season games and three of his stars – Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones and Phil Foden – haven't played at all after missing the club's US tour.

Guardiola went in with several reserves against Leicester in this game 12 months ago, a gamble that didn't come off with the Foxes winning 1-0. A week later they lost 1-0 at Tottenham and weren't good, the aftershock of a European Championship summer which took its toll on the City squad. This time, however, they may well be undercooked.

Erling Haaland, for example, would dearly love to show Liverpool and England what he's all about by starring and scoring in his first big showpiece. But the Norwegian has played just 40 minutes for his new club since his big-money switch from Dortmund and looks a prime candidate for 45 minutes at most.

Klopp, of course, may also be inclined to keep some players back for next weekend's far more important game at Fulham.

He will also want to integrate his headline summer signing, Darwin Nunez, who bagged four goals against Leipzig in one of four friendlies the Reds have played.

With Diogo Jota out, Nunez will surely be involved, although Roberto Firmino, a Klopp favourite, may be given the nod to start.

What we do know about games between these two is that there are usually goals – their three meetings last season yielded 13 while both teams have notched in eight of their last nine meetings.

Against that, none of the last five Community Shields have copped for over 2.5 backers, three of which featured Guardiola's City.

It's difficult to get massively bullish about what is still little more than a seasonal prep game, although the announcement of the team news might alter that thought process.

Key stat

The last seven Community Shields have produced just 13 goals in total.

Inside info

Liverpool

Penalty taker Mohamed Salah
Assist ace Trent Alexander-Arnold
Set-piece aerial threat Virgil van Dijk
Card magnet Andy Robertson

Man City

Penalty taker Riyad Mahrez
Assist ace Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias
Card magnet Joao Cancelo

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