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Two of the giants of English football are gearing up to face each other in the season’s curtain raiser – FA community shield – as they embark on yet another exciting season. The FA Community Shield is contested between the previous year’s Premier League winners (Manchester City) and the FA Cup winners ( Chelsea). The Community Shield has a long history with Manchester City winning it three times and Chelsea winning it 4 times.
Manchester City F.C.
With a successful pre-season now behind them, they are definitely looking forward to silence a few doubters this season. A dismal European campaign was forgotten as City clinched the Premier league title from under the noses of Manchester United in the last few minutes after a 44 year struggle. They featured in last year’s Community shield against Manchester United as well, losing 3-2 as the Red Devils grabbed their 19th Community Shield. A win against Chelsea would signal an intent of further domination in the league as they fight to successfully defend their Premier League title. The match will no doubt be a way to assess their squad one last time, as City have not yet entered the transfer market, with only rumours ruling the back pages. Roberto Mancini would definitely have his eyes on some of the players.
Chelsea F.C.
The English media hailed the Pensioners after their maiden Champions league trophy, and this has increased Chelsea’s stature further as they look forward to put a poor preseason behind them. The transfer market is something which Roman Abramovich cannot keep away from and Chelsea are dominating it just like they always do with the signings of Eden Hazard,Thorgan Hazard, Marko Marin, Kevin De Bruyne and Oscar. Chelsea are also to compete in a total of 7 competitions with every chance of winning all of it. Winning the Community Shield against the league holders could send a message to their rivals as the club is undergoing another period of transition. Roberto Di Matteo would also be hoping that the young blood would gel together as fast as possible.
Venue – Villa Park [ Home of Aston Villa F.C.]
Traditionally the 8th choice venue to hold the match, the unavailability of Wembley, Old Trafford and the Millennium Stadium is the reason why Villa Park was selected as the venue for this year’s community shield. The clash with Olympics has lead to rumours stating that the match would be held overseas. But with FA having a tight budget, they decided that it would be held in England but away from London. With a capacity of over 42,000, Villa Park has a fantastic atmosphere and the Villa fans are proud to be one of the noisiest fans in England.
Date and time
The match is to be held on the 12th of August 2012 and due to its clash with the Olympics its timing has been changed from the traditional time of 15:00 BST to 13:30 BST.
What to except?
All eyes will be on Chelsea new boy Eden Hazard as he gets ready to prove himself on English soil as Manchester City have not yet dived in to the market. It would be interesting to see how Roberto Mancini lines up his squad with Edin Dzeko in fine form after hitting twice in their last pre-season game and David Platt hinting that David Silva and Mario Ballotelli could miss the match. Mancini’s Italian counter part, Roberto Di Matteo will also be under scrutiny from the Russian owner. Ballotelli and Torres will be under a watchful eye as fans hope for a good performance from both of them. Overall it is bound to be fiery contest as the league contenders prepare ththemselves for an exciting season.
