Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola’s side clinch Community Shield on penalties
Follow all the action live from Wembley Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.Follow all the action live as Liverpool take on Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring against his former club after 12 minutes courtesy of a cute flick by David Silva and a flapping attempted save by Alisson.
However, after Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk both hit the woodwork, Liverpool finally cracked City’s defence in the second half when Joel Matip converted a close-range header to put the match back on level terms. Follow all the action below:
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Kick-off time
The Community Shield kicks off at 15:00 BST.
How can I watch it?
The match is being broadcast live on BT Sport 1 with coverage starting at 14:30 BST.
Team news
Nicolas Otamendi starts, despite only just returning from the Copa America, while Sergio Aguero will come off the bench. Raheem Sterling is set to take up a central berth, while Leroy Sane starts despite consistent rumours circulation over a possible transfer to Bayern Munich.
Firmino and Salah both start after returning from AFCON while Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri are included having recovered from injury. Sadio Mane is not scheduled to return to training until next week.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the FA Community Shield as Premier League champions Manchester City and Champions League winners Liverpool renew hostilities at Wembley.
Manchester City will be without first choice goalkeeper Ederson and midfielder Fernandinho as they have just arrived back from taking part in the Copa America. Claudio Bravo will start in goal.
Sadio Mane will be missing for Liverpool, he was involved in Senegal's run to the Africa Cup of Nations final..
Team news - Liverpool
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Origi, Salah, Firmino.
Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino are named in Liverpool's starting line-up this afternoon, with Divock Origi joining them in attack.
James Milner is ruled out as a precaution due to a tight muscle.
Liverpool are playing in their first Community Shield match for 13 years. They won the trophy that day with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
Captain Jordan Henderson says his side are looking to add more silverware to their cabinet and not trying to get one over on Premier League rivals Man City:
"I know it's a competition Liverpool have always taken seriously, so that brings a responsibility for whoever gets picked to do everything we can to win," he said.
"I'm not bothered about an advantage, we just want to win – full stop. The opponent is only relevant because in order to win it, we have to beat them. Sure, it's the same for City. It's the next game for us and therefore the next one we can win – that's our attitude.
"We've huge respect for City and what they achieved last season and we also respect they'll be a big force again this season – but [this match] isn't about anything other than doing our best to win for our supporters."
For Manchester City, this is their 12th appearance in the Community Shield, having won the trophy five times, including against Chelsea last year.
In all competitions, City are unbeaten in their past seven games at Wembley. Since losing to Arsenal in the 2017 FA Cup semi-final they've won six of those games and drawn one.
In that time they've only conceded one goal while scoring 16.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reinforced the sentiments of his captain Jordan Henderson.
When asked whether a win today would give the Reds a psychological advantage over Man City leading into the Premier League season, he said:
“No, not for me. We just want to win. It’s the next game - the only one we can win. Let’s try.
“To win trophies you normally have to beat the very best teams in the world - and City are definitely in that category - but I don’t think the season is defined or shaped by today.”
Reflecting on his sides achievements from last year as well as looking ahead for the season to come Man City manager Pep Guardiola sees the Community Shield as the starting point:
"We won almost every trophy, it is quite remarkable what we've done," he said.
"Our rivals will be stronger and we start from zero but are ready to accept the challenge and we'll be there until the end.
"In Spain and Germany the people say [the Community Shield] it's a traditional tournament and it will continue for many years. It's an honour to play in it.
"I think it will be hot, the condition of our players is not the best but we are going to try to play with the players who have played the most in pre-season. The guys who came back late will have a few minutes."
Leroy Sane has been the subject of quite a few transfer rumours over the summer break with signs that a move to Bayern Munich could be on the cards.
He was used primarily as a super-substitute for Pep Guardiola last season and wants to hold a regular place in the starting XI.
It remains to be seen if there are any truth to the rumours but Sane starts for Man City today.
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