Liverpool will hope to kick-off their 2022/2023 campaign with silverware when they take on Manchester City in the FA Community Shield this Saturday.
This year will be the Reds’ fourth appearance in the traditional curtain raiser over the last five seasons, although it will not be at Wembley due to the final of the women’s European Championships on Sunday.
The showpiece will take place at the King Power Stadium, but while the traditional venue has been replaced, Jurgen Klopp’s side will hope to make use of a more recent trend to send an early message to their Premier League rivals ahead of another tight season at the top.
Despite the previous season’s league champions winning more than twice as many Charity/Community shields as the FA Cup winners - 42 to 20 - it is the winners of the cup that have dominated in recent years, winning six of the last seven.
Granted, two of those were from Manchester City double-winning sides who also won the Premier League the previous year, but the holder’s of England’s oldest football competition have recently gone on to take the first piece of silverware on offer come the start of the following campaign.
This Saturday’s clash will mean something for both sides, contrary to common belief that it is a glorified friendly. Any opportunity at silverware is taken seriously by serial winners such as Klopp and Pep Guardiola, and the chance to kick the new season off with a victory will matter.
Equally as important for these two clubs is the chance to get one over on their Premier League title rivals early on. City and Liverpool have dominated the top-flight for the last five seasons and have often made the league a two-horse race by Christmas, making their head-to-head clashes incredibly important fixtures.
By pipping Guardiola’s side to the first silverware of the season, Klopp and Liverpool can land an early psychological blow as they look to reclaim their Premier League title. The Reds host City in October and will be desperate to go into that game having already beaten them once, and recent tradition suggests they might well do that.
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