FA Community Shield Predictions > Aug 29th

[StevieDay1983]

The 2020/21 FA Community Shield is set to take place this weekend when FA Cup winners Arsenal face Premier League champions Liverpool in the traditional season curtain-raiser. Circumstances are obviously slightly different this year but it's still set to be an exciting clash between two attack-minded sides. Who will prevail victorious? Let us know your predictions below! 

[malabgd]

Arsenal vs Liverpool FC

 

 

Arsenal

Doubtful: -

Out (injuries/other): Calum Chambers (14/1 d), Gabriel Martinelli (14/3 f), Shkodran Mustafi (15/0 d), Pablo Mari Villar (2/0 d)

Suspended: -

(Players stats are from last season.)

 

Liverpool FC

Doubtful: Trent Alexander-Arnold (38/4 d)

Out (injuries/other): Jordan Henderson (30/4 m, captain), Joel Matip (9/1 d), Harry Wilson (0/0 m, newcomer), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (30/4 m), Ki-Jana Hoever (0/0 d), Xherdan Shaqiri (7/1 m)

Suspended: -

(Players stats are from last season.)

 

Daily updated injuries and suspensions information from more then 100 football leagues and competitions worldwide at: www.injuriesandsuspensions.com

[StevieDay1983]

Arsenal vs Liverpool

OK, so this is always a strange game to cover before the season starts. Interest in this game is passive to say the least and it's incredibly difficult to work out team selections and performance levels of the sides under ordinary circumstances but under these extraordinary times? It's nearly impossible! Still, here we go! It's Arsenal versus Liverpool in the FA Community Shield in a 4:30pm BST kick-off this Saturday at Wembley.

Arsenal finally showed physical proof that they're evolving under head coach Mikel Arteta by securing the FA Cup a few weeks ago. Arteta has been active in the transfer market according to rumours but the only actual signing he's made has been Willian from rivals Chelsea. It's hardly a case of addressing the areas of weakness that need attention. The crucial bit of business is the likelihood of club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang extending his contract with the club. It's only 6 competitive losses for Arteta since he became Gunners boss back in December 2019.

Liverpool begin the defence of their Premier League title here. Well, it's not the league per se but it's the first game of the new season where we get to see how they are set up for the coming campaign. Jurgen Klopp has been keen to point out that he's looking to tweak things but not make drastic changes. He was quick to dismiss speculation that Lionel Messi could be a target for the Reds. The signing of Olympiakos left back Kostas Tsimikas has been their solitary arrival with the likes of Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren leaving the club with little fanfare. Doubts were cast on whether Liverpool could continue performing at the high levels they set earlier in the previous campaign after they lost 4 of their 9 matches played after the restart. This will be a big test of that consistency.

It's almost become gospel that games between Arsenal and Liverpool boast goals. The two sides last met back on 15th July when Arsenal prevailed as 2-1 winners over Liverpool. 8 of the previous 10 meetings between the two clubs have ended in 4 or more goals being scored. An average of 5.2 goals per game have been scored over the course of those 10 games. I wouldn't be surprised to see another goal fest here as the clubs test some things and try new ideas with little time to experiment during a shortened pre-season.

Arsenal Double Chance @ 2.30 with Boylesports

Total Goals Scored Over 3.5 @ 2.60 with Boylesports