Community Shield Betting Tips: Scott Thornton dives into the corner and foul market for this week's bet builder

Manchester United and Manchester City go head-to-head at Wembley for the third consecutive season. This time, they meet in the Community Shield.

The Form

Manchester City became the first team to win the title in four consecutive years in the Premier League era last season. Pep Guardiola’s team finished the season strongly to overtake Arsenal and deny Mikel Arteta’s side once again. 

The Citizens, along with Real Madrid, are the ones to beat in European football. Pep Guardiola has been backed heavily since moving to Manchester and created a footballing dynasty. However, they were unable to add to their Premier League trophy last season. They were beaten by Real in the semi-finals of the Champions League and Manchester United got the better of them in the FA Cup final.

Erik Ten Hag faced plenty of criticism last season and he can count himself lucky that he has been given another crack of the whip. United’s performances were akin to a side battling relegation last season so expect improvements in the early stages of this campaign if the Dutchman is to keep his job. Ten Hag has been armed with a new coaching team and it’ll be interesting to see if this has the desired effect.

The Red Devils finished the Premier League season in eighth place. They were wide open defensively and struggled to find the net with any sort of regularity. That meant they finished the season with a goal difference of -1. The FA Cup triumph was their saving grace.

The Runners and the Riders

Pep Guardiola’s starting eleven during the pre-season tour has seldom resembled a team you would see him field in a Premier League game. Erling Haaland has played a full pre-season with his country missing out on qualification for the European Championships. Jack Grealish has also been with the squad after being dropped by Gareth Southgate. Pep will likely have to call on some players who haven’t had a pre-season here.

Erik Ten Hag had plenty of injuries at the back last season and that looks set to continue coming into this campaign. Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw are all a doubt for this one. The new signing, Leny Yoro, is also ruled out. Joshua Zirkzee could be in line for his first appearance for the Red Devils with Rasmus Hojlund out.

What They Said

Manchester United are expected to add to their squad before the window slams shut but Erik Ten Hag is happy with the way things are heading into the season, the United boss said, “I don’t go into details, where we are now in recruitment, what we’re working on. We know what we are doing; we are in a good position with the squad.”

Pep Guardiola has criticised the hectic football schedule and believes he has been unable to properly prepare his team for the new season. He said, "A proper preparation is impossible. We cannot demand when they're exhausted to train properly.” City, like United, have been without several players due to this summer’s major tournaments. Pep said, “I would have preferred to bring [on tour] Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Kyle Walker, all the guys the people are waiting for but the schedule is the schedule and it would not be possible for them to come here."

Selection

Manchester City are the clear favourites and they should be able to take advantage of United’s questionable defence. Erik Ten Hag was unable to address the issues that plagued his team last season. Only Sheffield United conceded more shots than the Red Devils in the Premier League and this led to their opponents winning plenty of corners. Manchester United conceded over 17 shots per game, which made Andre Onana one of the busiest goalkeepers in the league, making an average of 3.92 saves per game. This led to the team giving up the most corners in the top flight with their opponents averaging 7.34 per game.

In contrast, Manchester City conceded the second-fewest corners in the Premier League with an average of 3.39. Pep Guardiola’s side were also able to win 7.53 corners per game on average so the -3.5 corners handicap looks good here. 

There were three meetings between the Manchester Clubs last season and this bet won with ease in all three matches. City won seven corners to United’s one in the FA Cup final. At the Etihad, Pep Guardiola’s side had 13 more corners than the Red Devils. The Red Devils won seven corners at Old Trafford but conceded 12. 

Recommended Bet: Manchester City -3.5 Asian corners handicap at 1.86

Bet Builder Tip

For our bet builder tip, we are adding a player foul bet. Manchester City forced an average of 11.11 fouls per game in the league last season, just above the average of 11.06 per team in each match. Manchester United made 11 fouls against their local rivals in the FA Cup final. 

Manchester United’s full-backs were busy in the FA Cup final, making a combined total of five tackles, but it is fouls we are backing here. Diogo Dalot started at left-back in that game and made two fouls as he attempted to keep Bernardo Silva under wraps. Victor Lindelof played at left-back in the previous league game and he also made two fouls.

The Red Devils’ injury woes in defence mean that Harry Amass is likely to start at left-back here. The youngster made a big impression in pre-season and looks set to make his mark on the first team in this campaign. He played against Premier League opposition on two occasions on the team’s tour of the USA. Amass made an average of 2.29 fouls per 90 minutes played in those matches. 

Recommended Bet: Manchester City -3.5 Asian corners handicap and over 1.5 fouls for Harry Amass @ 5.9