SAT 07 AUG 2021THE FA COMMUNITY SHIELD
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Time: 17:15
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Manchester City midfielders Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden will be “out for a while” because of injuries, says boss Pep Guardiola.
De Bruyne, 30, suffered ankle ligament damage at the European Championship and played with a tear in Belgium’s quarter-final defeat by Italy.
Foden, 21, missed out on England’s loss in the final because of a foot problem.
Record signing Jack Grealish will be on the bench for Saturday’s Community Shield match against Leicester City.
On Thursday, 25-year-old Grealish became the most expensive British player of all time by moving from Aston Villa to Man City for £100m.
Guardiola said: “He [Grealish] is not ready to start at all, he was one week training alone but he’ll travel with us tomorrow, to settle with the team, for meetings, and he will be on the bench and we’ll see what happens.
“After we’ll see what happens but from the beginning, no way.”
The Premier League champions come up against FA Cup winners Leicester in the curtain-raiser to the new season, with kick-off at 17:15 BST on Saturday.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said it is “a fantastic game for us” and that he was “glad we are there”.
The ex-Liverpool boss added: “We won the FA Cup and against a very good side. It will be a wonderful occasion. Wembley, full house and a chance to get hold of something at the end of it. Manchester City are a fantastic team.”
The Foxes have injury issues in defence with Wesley Fofana, Jonny Evans, James Justin and Timothy Castagne all out.
French defender Fofana added to Rodgers’ concerns after breaking his leg in a friendly against Villarreal on Wednesday and faces a significant spell out of action.
Rodgers added: “We are definitely light in the central defensive area. It is something we will have to look at for sure.
“There are people who are identified. We have a small list of players to look at so we will see.”
Leicester could give debuts to summer signings Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare and Ryan Bertrand.
Guardiola to ‘play final’ for Emilio Ballack
On Thursday, Emilio Ballack, the son of former Germany and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, died at the age of 18..
The teenager was involved in a quad-bike accident which police told Reuters took place in the early hours of Thursday morning south of Lisbon.
Guardiola said he wanted to play the final “as best as possible” and try to win the game “to dedicate it” to Michael Ballack and his family.
The former Bayern Munich boss added: “I am going to play the final of the Community Shield tomorrow thinking about the son of Michael Ballack, Emilio Ballack. He was a friend of my family, we met in Munich.
“An exceptional 18-year-old boy, incredibly well educated and unfortunately he had a terrible accident in Portugal.”
Match stats
* This will be just the second meeting between Leicester and Manchester City at Wembley, with the Citizens winning the 1969 FA Cup final 1-0 in the other.
*Leicester have won just two of their 20 meetings with Man City outside of league competition (D7 L11), winning 3-0 in January 1920 and 4-3 in February 1968 (both FA Cup).
Leicester
*Leicester have won their last two matches played at Wembley Stadium, just one fewer than they’d managed in their first 14 games at the venue (W3 D1 L10).
*This is Leicester’s third appearance in the Community Shield, beating Liverpool 1-0 in 1971 and losing 2-1 against Manchester United in 2016.
*Jamie Vardy has scored half of Leicester’s eight goals at the ‘new’ Wembley Stadium. However, he’s been on the losing side in all three games in which he’s found the net at Wembley for the Foxes.
*Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers is set to be the first British manager to take charge of a side in the Community Shield since David Moyes’ Manchester United beat Wigan 2-0 in 2013.
Man City
*Man City have won the Community Shield in three of their last four appearances in the match, as many as they had in their previous eight (W3 L5).
*Excluding 2019 (when Manchester City appeared as double winners), the FA Cup winners have won the Community Shield in five of the last six campaigns, with the exception being Man City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2018.
*Man City have lost just two of their last 12 games at Wembley (W8 D2), with both defeats coming in consecutive FA Cup semi-final appearances (2020 vs Arsenal, 2021 vs Chelsea).
*Riyad Mahrez has played against Leicester City six times since leaving the Foxes for Manchester City in 2018, with the Algerian registering two goals and two assists in five starts against his former club over this period.
