Liverpool vs Manchester City 04/08/19

4 August 2019

Liverpool and Manchester City will battle it out for the Community Shield trophy at the Wembley Stadium this weekend, as the two Premier League giants officially kick off the 2019-20 campaign.

Although the Reds go into this massive clash off the back of a comfortable 3-1 win over Lyon, they’ve struggled to impress during the off-season. Apart from three routine triumphs over the English lower-league sides at the beginning of their preparations, the Merseyside heavyweights have failed to pick up a win in four consecutive high-profile friendlies before beating Lyon (D1, L3). Notably, all of those matches have seen Liverpool concede two or more goals, while two witnessed Jurgen Klopp’s men score precisely two goals. But, when it comes to competitive games, the reigning Champions League holders have won the last four, three of which have seen them beat their rivals to nil.

On the other hand, the Citizens have started their pre-season with a 4-1 win over West Ham United in the Premier League Asia Trophy semi-finals before being edged out by Wolverhampton in a penalty shootout in the final. After that, the defending Premier League champions have secured commanding back-to-back wins over the Asian sides Kitchee and Yokohama, scoring nine goals while conceding one apiece across those matches. However, it will be a daunting prospect for Manchester City to beat Liverpool here, as they’ve struggled to outplay bitter rivals in five of their last six H2H meetings (W1, D1, L4).