Almost 2 months of no competitive football would have been driving the fans crazy, and with the season already having begun in some parts of Europe the English fans would be hungry for football, if not exciting football. The game tomorrow, The Community Shield, the curtain raiser for EPL season 2011/12 is certain to draw a great deal of interest as the season is about to begin . The fact that it's being played by two bitter rivals, Manchester United and Manchester City, a derby and the chance to thump the opposition to the ground is an incentive which will certainly make the start to the season all the more interesting.
It was only in May 2011 that United last played a game at Wembley where they lost the Champions League to Barcelona whereas City will have happy memories of their last outing on this ground where they defeated Stoke to end their title drought and win the FA cup. It is hence imperative that City would want to continue on their winning run whereas United would wish to wash away their Wembley wounds. One team with a successful history against another piling up it's armoury with exquisite players from around the world, the game between the red and blue half of Manchester will be Battle Royale. The bad blood between the two teams from last season is threatening to spill over into this season which is wonderful for the neutrals if they are guaranteed an exciting 90 minutes.
The retirement of Edwin Van der Sar and Paul Scholes and the sale of John OShea, Wes Brown have made a dent in United's chance of running away to glory this season. Through the arrival of Phil Jones, David De Gea and Ashley Young, Sir Alex has tried to up the ante , but the ammo is gonna run out sooner rather than later if there will not be further additions to the squad. On the other hand "the noisy neighbours" as City are called by the United fans, have strengthened their squad with the arrival of a few big names. With the availability of a host of players in the squad who could win a game with their individual brilliance the arrival of Aguero and Clichy has definitely given them an upper edge over their rivals.
With last season's FA cup triumph, and also the elimination of United in the semis, City did more than end their 35-year old drought. They announced their arrival on the big stage with a warning to all other clubs. 19 League titles might be far away for the Citizens to catch up, however the game tomorrow might just decide who is the new number one in Manchester for the time being. The Community Shield may not be worth a penny, but you can be certain that Sunday's match will be one clash United and City wouldn't want to lose.
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