Manchester City v Manchester United: Community Shield – live | Community Shield

Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United

The funny font: “Is anybody else slightly distracted by City’s team names on the back of the shirt appearing to be in Comic Sans typeface?” asks Jeff Black. “Though it’s probably some trendy font that’s all the rage with graphic designers.”

Slightly distracted? Slightly? It is driving me around the bend.

An email: “Many players have struggled to internalise Pep’s ‘guidance’,” writes James Campbell, who tells me he is sipping a Russian Imperial stout in the Crooked Spider Brewpub, Wassenaar in the Netherlands. “It took Foden years to be trusted, but Pep persevered coz the innate talent is prodigious.

“Jack Grealish was my go-to player (after watching Man U, my team for 66 years and counting). I just loved him coming in from the left, just the idea of him bringing top left-backs into mental disarray. Then his head was turned and he became a Pepbot. Does anybody, these days, turn on the TV to watch Jack

“Back to poor Kalvin: not bright enough to learn Pep’s placing and patterns. Bielsa’s approach had no space for thinking: yhe knew exactly where to be and what to do. Ask yourself why Cancelo, every pundit’s wonder boy, couldn’t hack it at Bayer.”

You mean Bayern, right? Or else you’ve had one Russian Imperial stout too many.

Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United

45+1 min: “I’ve seen nothing to indicate that the gap between these two will be less than 25 points, specially when you know this is City’s B team,” writes Philip Haran. “The odd good move from MU but mostly dross.”

A lot of dross from both sides, I would argue, but I wouldn’t expect the gap to be less than 25 points either, unless Manchester City get a massive points deduction for some reason or other.

44 min: Erling Haaland, on the other hand, is having one of those games where you kind of forget he is on the pitch, only for him to be withdrawn after 75 minutes or provide a timely reminder in the form of a quick-fire hat-trick.

42 min: There’s a break in play so Casemiro can recieve treatment for an injury. My expectations were low but I’ve been impressed with him so far this afternoon. He’s been instrumental in a couple of very promising Manchester United attacks that should have resulted in shots on target if not goals.

41 min: “It’s on ESPN,” writes Graham Randall, who is unhappy with their camrea angle. “We have the most bizarre camera angle,” he says. “It’s very low and when straight ahead it is about 10 yards into the Man City half. It also seems to be non person operated.”

40 min: “It’s not showing here in the USA,” wails Linda Watson in an email accompanied by a crying face emoji.

39 min: Having bossed the opening 25 minutes, Manchester City have found themselves on the back foot over the past 15. Or 14, to be more precise.

38 min: Casemiro tees up Rashford for a shot but the United winger’s attempt to curl a shot around Ederson and inside the far post drifts harmlesly wide.

34 min: That was a wonderul move from United, with Amad Diallo at tyhe heart of it. He was a joy to watch on loan at Sunderland the season before last and clearly has what it takes to cut it at a higher level. Can he do it consistently? At the risk of stating the obvious, only time will tell.

31 min: Dalot robs Doku of the ball on the halfway line and sends the ball upfield. Casemiro, Rashford and Diallo combine down the right and spotting Mason Mount on the edge of the six-yard box, Diallo squares the ball his way instead of shooting from a good position. His pass is a little too far in front of Mount and a wonderful chance goes to waste. That would and should have been a sensational team goal.

29 min: Amad Diallo cuts inside from the right, getting the better of Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku as he dribbles into the Man City penalty area. He takes a shot from a promising position but his low effort skids harmlessly wide.

26 min: The camera cuts to the posh seats, all the better to give us a look at Manchester United’s blazered up new hierarchy. From left to right: David Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox. There’s no sign of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire minority stakeholder in the club who hired them all.

25 min: A mistake by Jonny Evans in the United defensive ranks gifts position to Bobb, who plays the ball to James McAtee. He tries his luck with a curled effort from left to right and sees his shot thump the far upright. Close but no cigar.

23 min: “Kalvin Phillips was signed as cover for Rodri so to hear that the club are targeting a defensive midfielder in the window must mean he will be offloaded at the end of the month,” writes Rick Harris.

“They say never go back, but perhaps Leeds might not be the worst place to resurrect his career. He’s not the first of his time to find himself in this position as I seem to recall Shaun Wright-Phillips rotting on City’s bench back in the day.”

22 min: More good work from Bobb, who cuts inside Martinez and Evans from the right before taking a shot and firing high over the bar.

20 min: United have 11 players behind the ball with 10 of them defending the edge of their own penalty area as Manchester CIty press and probe for an opening. A mistake by Rashford allows Oscar Bobb to charge through the inside left and pull back to Haaland, who can’t get a shot off.

18 min: Doku skips past Dalot (“megged!”) and then Maguire as it they weren’t on the pitch and cuts a cross into the penalty area from the byline. It’s just a little too high for Nico O’Reilly, who was unmarked and poised to head home from a position near the penalty spot.

16 min: Ederson pings a high pass out towards Rico Lewis on the touchline but the full-back has to leap to head the ball to keep it in play and can only give it away to Lisandro Martinez.

15 min: There’s little of note to report on the pitch, where Erling Haaland has just been penalised for fouling Harry Maguire about five yards outside the United penalty area.

13 min: A penny for the thoughts of Kalvin Phillips, who can’t get into this makeshift Manchester City midfield and has to settle for a place on the bench. It seems abundantly clear that he has no future at City and it will be interesting to see who takes a punt on him following his disastrous loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season. He was such a good player at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, but his confidence must be at rock bottom.

8 min: While Erling Haaland was mindlessly chopping wood during the summer, it seems Marcus Rashford was engaged in more cerebral pursuits. According to ITV commentator Sam Matterface, the Un ited winger was keeping his mind active by doing jigsaw puzzles.

“I’m too polite to say he went to pieces in the opposition box on more than one occasion last season,” says Ally McCoist on co-comms, taking less than 10 minutes to earn his fee.

6 min: Jeremy Doku tries and fails to get the better of Diogo Dalot down the left wing, prompting the Manchester United right-back to try and fail to set up a quick counter-attack. He’s dispossessed by Rico Lewis.

3 min: Manchester city are applying all the early pressure and Harry Maguire and Onana seem to be getting plenty of touches. They say you shouldn’t read too much into a Community Shield match but I’m looking forward to seeing how Casemiro fares, as he looked like he was pulling a caravan on numerous occasions last season.

It’ll be interesting to see how James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly get on too, while in the red corner, Marcus Rashford will be also be hoping to get this season off to a flier after the many disappointments of his last campaign.

1 min: Andre Onana gets an early touch and boots the ball towards the halfway line, where Rico Lewis wins it.

Man City v Man United is go …

Not long now: Led out by Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias, the teams make their way out on to the Wembley sward and are introduced to an array of dignatories including Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee and FA blazer Mark Bullingham.

I think I see former United defender Ronny Johnsen there too. Does the Norwegian qualify as a legend? Answers on a postcard or email. Speaking of Norwegians, Erling Haaland is reported to have spent much of the summer chopping wood in his home country at the behest of his father. Apparently Alfie Haaland wants his son to get stronger, although I suspect he just wants a ready supply of wood for the fire.

That’s certainly why my father used to make me spend long days chopping wood, long after it became apparent I would not be making it as a professional athlete. I can testify that it does get you fit.

Some pre-match admin: If the scores are level in today’s game after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time and a penalty shootout will take place shortly after the final whistle.

Pep Guardiola: “It’s important for us to be here because it means we have done something good last season,” says the Manchester City manager in an interview with ITV. “All the squad come back from holidays and now I have to see how we train, how we complete the first games, what is our mentality, our game and what is going to happen.”

He goes on to say that Jack Grealish “was a little bit niggles” and in discomfort yesterday. “He didn’t feel good” and “with our defenders, Manuel [Akanji] and Ruben [Dias] they have only trained three days.”

Erik Ten Hag: In conversation with ITV, the Manchester United’ manager is asked if he will be taking today’s Community Shield match seriously or treating it like a part of his pre-season preparations.

“It’s a part of pre-season,” he says. “I have already said I don’t like friendlies but we want to win. City wants to win as well, I am sure but you don’t go in crazy risk because there is a season to play. You don’t go and risk players.”

Manchester United: Some players, like Marcus Rashford, had a summer off but Erik ten Hag’s squad remains bedevilled by injuries and other absentees, writes Will Unwin.

Manchester City: Pep Guardiola says City are open to bringing in a central midfielder and a striker but will not be held to ransom over fees. Words: Will Unwin.

Some transfer tittle-tattle: The word on the street is that Manchester United are closing in on the acquisition of Bayern Munich duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui and could pay up to £60m for the two players. A Dutch cenre-back, De Ligt was an Ajax skipper under Ten Hag, while Morocco full-back Mazraoui also played for Ten Hag at Ajax.

Manchester United: In news that could send a chill shiver down the collective spine of United fans who already think their goalkeeper is something of a liability, André Onana has declared he will “take a lot of risks” this season and will accept any criticism coming his way if he costs his side victories. Jamie Jackson reports …

Today’s match officials

• Referee: John Brooks

• Referee’s assistants: Adrian Holmes and Nick Greenhalgh

• Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett

• Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes

Those teams: Congratulations to 19-year-old midfielder Nico O’Reilly, an academy grduate who makes his senior debut for Manchester City today. James McAtee also lines up in City’s midfield, having spent the past two seasons on loan at Sheffield United. Erling starts up front, while Jack Grealish is not in the squad, with reports sugesting he has suffered some manner of injury.

Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans line up in the hearty of Manchester United’s defence, with Lisandro Martinez filling in at left-back in the absence of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is rumoured to be off to West Ham.

The presence of Casemiro in United’s midfield may worry some fans, not least because he finished last season quite poorly and is reported to have put in several disappointing performances in United’s pre-season tour. Bruno Fernades looks set to fill in as a makeshift striker, while new signing Joshua Zirkzee starts on the bench.

Manchester City v Manchester United line-ups

Early Man City team news

Ederson missed last weekend’s friendly with a reported “niggle”, although a cynic could be forgiven for thinking he was being wrapped in cotton wool ahead of a potential move to Saudi Arabia.

John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Rodri are all unavailable for selection as they are still on holiday after going all the way to the final of Euro 2024. Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, and Bernardo Silva all returned to training this week and could play this afternoon.

Erling Haaland, who had no international obligations this summer and is fully rested, is expected to start and comes into this game on the back of a hat-trick he scored in a friendly against Chelsea last weekend. Signed from Troyes this summer, the Brazilian winger Savio may also start today. His Argentinian counterpart Julian Alvarez will not be playing for City today because he is on the verge of completing his surprise £81.5m move to Atletico Madrid.

Early Man United team news

Manchester United’s new signing Leny Yoro is out for three months with a fractured metatarsal, while Tyrell Malacia remains unavailable after missing the entirety of last season with a knee injury.

Elsewhere in the United defence, there are concerns over the availability of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw. Lisandro Martinez could feature for some or all of today’s game, despite having only reported back from Copa Ameria duty with Argentina on Monday morning.

Despite not having featured in Manchester United’s pre-season preparations as he’s been trying to have another holiday after his late call-up from Disney World to the Netherlands Euro 2024 squad, Joshua Kirkzee could make his United debut today in the absence of Rasmus Hojlund, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. A £42.5m signing from Bologna, Zirkzee is United’s only fit centre-forward.

Community Shield: Man City v Man United