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Recent Form
Having firmly established themselves as one of Europe’s elite sides over the past few seasons, Liverpool are understandably favourites to win this clash, but it’s unclear whether they’ll be firing on all cylinders following some patchy form since mid-February.
They’re just W7-D2-L6 including extra time now and up against the best sides they’ve encountered during this period – Atletico, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal – they’re an even worse W1-L5. That includes Arsenal’s 2-1 win at the Emirates in July, a result backed up three days later with a 2-0 success over Man City in the FA Cup.
There’s certainly been an improvement under Mikel Arteta as he’s brought an identifiable playing style and they’ve now racked up a number of victories against quality outfits.
Indeed, the Gunners are W5-D2-L2 in domestic encounters with the sides that finished above them in the table during 2020 so far.
Arsenal Under Arteta
Arsenal’s record at Wembley certainly shouldn’t be discounted either. Lifting the FA Cup at the start of this month leaves the Gunners a fantastic W8-D3-L1 there in cup competitions dating back to April 2014, as all three draws saw them win after extra time or penalties.
In 28 outings under Arteta now, Arsenal have lost by more than a single goal just once, against Man City, with four of their six defeats finishing 2-1 and the other 1-0.
That leaves us unconvinced Liverpool will run riot going forwards as they have been able to in clashes over the past few years. Since 2016, Jurgen Klopp’s side have scored at least three times in eight of 10 head to heads with the Gunners, but Liverpool are only W2-D3-L1 in these since December 2017.
Injuries And New Signings
Arsenal need new recruits to get back into contention for a Champions League place, but while the Gunners’ underbelly might be as soft as ever, Arteta’s disciplined approach has at least found a way to leave it less exposed.
He will still be without injured quartet Callum Chambers, Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari and Gabriel Martinelli, but they weren’t missed in Arsenal’s end to last season and Arteta will also have the option to throw in new arrivals William Saliba and Willian.
It remains to be seen what formation Arteta elects for, but it’s also unclear kind of team Klopp will plump for as well. He too has a new signing in left-back Kostas Tsimikas, but Joel Matip, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson will all miss out, with the latter’s absence the biggest blow.
Liverpool’s success in recent seasons has brought a heavy workload, in addition to the relentless nature of Klopp’s teams, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool didn’t play their strongest available side here.
Arsenal Double Chance
That could disrupt the league champions and given only one of the past five Community Shield finals have seen more than two goals, as even that featured just three, Arsenal will likely keep this tight.
For all of their problems in recent times, the Gunners have still won the community shield in three of the past six seasons and are heading in the right direction under current management.
ODDS FOR THE COMMUNITY SHIELD AVAILABLE HERE
SCORE MORE WIN MORE OFFER
Simply place a £10+ pre-match bet on any market at odds 1.5+ or above and we’ll give you a Free Bet equal to the amount of goals scored in the game. Example – If Arsenal beat Liverpool in a 3-2 thriller, you get a £5 Free Bet.
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ODDS ARE CORRECT AS OF 27/8/2020 HOWEVER ARE SUBJECT TO FLUCTUATIONS
