BPL (Week 0) - Community Shield Preview

After months the wait is finally over, the Barclays Premier League is about to have its curtain raiser tonight - The FA Community Shield. Some may call it the cursed Shield as the winners very seldom go on to win the League. Here is a short presentation on my feelings and thoughts on the proceedings tonight. Both teams are barely done with their pre-season preparations and would probably view tonight's match as another warm up.

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CHELSEA

The list of injuries may have shorten somewhat but several notable players like Ballack will not see any action tonight. What is interesting is whether Mourinho will play a 4-4-2 formation or a 4-3-3. With the former we will probably get to see Shevchenko starting at the expense of Mikel, and the latter he will probably come on as a substitute along with Robben and possibly Pizarro, Ben-Haim or Sidwell. Players to watch for tonight will indefinitely be Didier Drogba and Florian Malouda. Boasting a sound defense and forward-line spearheaded by the Ivorian, Chelsea will look to inflict a psychological blow on the Red Devils.

Probable Lineup:

Cech, Terry, Carvalho, Ferreira, A. Cole, Lampard, Mikel, Makelele, Malouda, J. Cole, Drogba

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MANCHESTER UNITED

The mood of pre-season will seem even more obvious in the Red camp as they will probably not field their best 11 since many are injured or lack match-fitness. The real test comes in defense in trying to handle the likes of Drogba, Malouda and Joe Cole. Always looking excellent going forward, I will expect United to field a 4-5-1 formation that plays on the swift counter. Rooney and Ronaldo will take turns being the lone man up-front while the latter will probably be handed the free-role that he played with such devastation last season. Substitutes that I would expect to see play a part in the proceedings include O’Shea and Nani.

Probable Lineup:

Van der Sar, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Brown, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Rooney

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The competitive spirit in both teams will overshadow the pre-season atmosphere, but don't expect either team to push themselves too much. Chelsea could possibly edge Manchester by the odd goal, and I see both teams scoring at least one. For the sake of the neutrals, I hope this will not turn out to be a bore-fest.