Chelsea vs Man Utd: Community Shield preview

The new season is upon us – earlier than ever it seems – and once again Chelsea are involved in the traditional curtain raiser: the Community Shield.

If we’re honest with ourselves, despite all the media and supporter talk of putting markers down, this is a quasi-friendly fixture whose winner will be forgotten once the week-to-week Premier League action gets underway. Nevertheless, it’s also a fixture against the team that will likely be Chelsea’s closest rivals for the title and our first real insight how the summer’s comings and goings have affected the hunt for trophies. Carlo will likely learn more about his Chelsea side in the 90 minutes at Wembley tomorrow than he did throughout all the pre-season games combined.

I’ve been serially cynical of Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 diamond formation over the past few weeks - it performed well against weaker and less match-fit opposition in America and just about coped against Reading last weekend, but tomorrow we’ll see how it shapes up against a top class side. I’m more than aware that I sound like a broken record, but if is left to the full backs to provide all of Chelsea’s width then the quality of Man Utd’s defence – and any other well organised one - will have little trouble stifling attacks.

Chelsea won’t be the only side with new tactics tomorrow though – Ferguson has been re-jigging his side as the club embraces the post-Ronaldo era. United’s gameplan has to be about maximising the goalscoring talents of Rooney and Berbatov – if they can do that they will be a very dangerous side indeed. 

That won’t be so easy for them tomorrow however as they have injury problems to contend with. Van der Saar’s recent broken hand means he will join Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva in the treatment room, while Zhirkov is Chelsea’s only injury doubt (aside from Joe Cole).

It sounds negative, but the key for tomorrow is for the side to put in a confidence-inducing solid performance, win if possible and avoid injuries. With a relatively easy set of opening fixtures it’s the sternest test Chelsea will have in a while – and a vital learning opportunity for Ancelotti before the pressure really steps up in October.

bridgeviews.co.uk prediction - Chelsea 2 Man Utd 1, Drogba to score first

Look out for the bridgeviews.co.uk match report tomorrow.