There will be plenty of new faces on display at Wembley as Premier League champions Leicester take on FA Cup winners Man United in the Community Shield on Sunday.
Team news
New Manchester United signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitarayan and Eric Bailly are all in line to start for the Red Devils.
Chris Smalling and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are likely to be available but Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss out altogether as his future at Old Trafford remains unclear.
Ahmed Musa, Papy Mendy and Luis Hernandez could all make their Leicester debuts, as well as Ron-Robert Zieler and the Foxes’ latest signing Bartosz Kapustka.
Robert Huth is free to play despite serving a three-match ban carried over from last season, while out-of-favour Ritchie de Laet and Gokhan Inler are expected to be missing.
Opta stats
This is Leicester City’s first appearance in the Community Shield since 1971/72, in which they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Filbert Street. The Foxes were winners of the second division the season before.
This will be Manchester United’s 30th appearance in the Community Shield. They’ve won the trophy on 20 previous occasions, a record figure (16 outright wins and four shared titles).
The Red Devils have won the Community Shield in five of their last six appearances (2007/08 and 2008/09 on penalties, 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2013/14).
Leicester’s last trip to Wembley saw them win the League Cup in February 2000, beating Tranmere 2-1.
Indeed, the Foxes have secured three wins and a draw in their last five visits to Wembley (drew 1-1 in the League Cup Final in 1997 before winning the replay at Hillsborough).
Manchester United have won their last four games at Wembley since losing the 2011 Champions League final there to Barcelona.
The only Wembley match between Leicester and Manchester United previously was the FA Cup Final in 1963, in which the Red Devils ran out 3-1 winners.
Jose Mourinho failed to win the Community Shield in three of his four matches as Chelsea boss, including last season’s game against Arsenal (one defeat on penalties to Manchester United in 2007/08).
Of his four games at Wembley as Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho won twice (2007 FA Cup final and 2015 League Cup Final).
This is the first time Claudio Ranieri will have managed a team at Wembley Stadium.
Manchester United have lost just one of their last 15 games in all competitions against Leicester, though this was a memorable 5-3 victory in September 2014 (W11 D3). This is the only time in the Premier League era in which Manchester United have lost a league game after being two goals ahead.
Both matches between the two sides in the Premier League last season ended 1-1, though Jamie Vardy did break the Premier League record for scoring in the most consecutive matches in the first meeting in November (11).
Jamie Vardy has scored once and assisted another goal in three games for England at Wembley Stadium.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has only played at Wembley once before; losing 0-1 against England for Sweden in November 2011.
Ibrahimovic scored 38 goals in 31 league games for Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1 last season – the only player in the big five Euro leagues to score more was Luis Suarez (40 for Barcelona).
Henrikh Mkhitaryan assisted the most goals (15) & created the third most chances (83) in the German Bundesliga last season.
Wayne Rooney has scored 245 goals for Manchester United in all competitions – only Bobby Charlton (249) has scored more for the club.
The last two Community Shield matches have been won by the previous seasons’ FA Cup winners (Arsenal in both 2014/15 and 2015/16).
None of the last five Community Shield winners have gone on to win the Premier League title that season – the last team to do this was Manchester United in 2010/11.
I’m a freelance blogger, and a seasoned web designer and developer, PC Producer specializes in creating visually stunning, user-friendly websites that reflect each client’s unique brand identity. Our services include web design, web development, SEO optimization, and e-commerce solutions, all tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients.